LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



Shelf V-till 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



k 



torp of t\)t faoktn, 



AS BELONGING TO THE 



Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 



7 

ROBERT SHIELLS. 



Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their 
children, and their children another generation. — Joel i : 3. 



NEW YORK: 
JOHN IRELAND, 

1 197 BROADWAY. 



<^0 






^ 



^rcoMottfti 

I WASHINGTON 



Copyright. 



DEDICATION. 



To all the friends, and they are many, 
on both sides of the sea, who have given 
me help and encouragement, my work is 
respectfully dedicated as a " Token " of 
appreciation and loving remembrance. 

No one is named, but each one may read 
his own name between the lines, as each 
one is duly remembered by 

His Grateful Friend, 

ROBERT SHIELLS. 



PREFACE. 



I have no apology to make for the following pages. 
The story they tell will show how they came to be 
written. 

I hope the reader will find the narrative not so 
unimportant as it may appear at first sight. I have 
used my most diligent endeavor to collect all the 
information I could, concerning what has become to 
me, an interesting study. I have striven to tell 
what I know about a practice that is fast becoming 
extinct, and to preserve its memory from the delenda 
est of the waters of Lethe. 

The Token was once a visible symbol of that 
which, like a master-key, opened the gates of salva- 
tion to the faithful communicants of the Church. 
Time-honored as the custom was, it will soon be 
forgotten. I would fain hope that I have been able 
to add one stone, small as it may be, to its cairn of 
remembrance. 

It is with no affectation of humility I acknowledge 
that neither my reading nor my scholarship fits me 
to be an authority on this question. I shall be amply 
repaid for my labor if what I have written shall 
incite some qualified person' to complete the story 
of the Token 



vi PREFACE. 

Besides being encouraged in my work by the love 
which I bear to the Church in which I was reared, I 
confess that I have also endeavored to realize that 
wish of which Burns speaks, and in which all his 
countrymen share : — 

" That I, for poor auld Scotland's sake, 
Some usefu' plan or book could make." 

And now, without further preface, " Behold how 
that I have not laboured for myself only, but for all 
them that seek wisdom and knowledge." Ecclesias- 
ticus, xxiv : 39, and xxxiii : 16. 

"And here will I make an end. If I have done 
well, and as the story required, it is the thing that I 
desired : but if I have spoken slenderly and barely, 
I have done that I could." II. Maccabees, xv : 39. 

As these sheets pass through the press, I cannot 
refrain from expressing my gratitude to The Rev. 
Samuel Macauley Jackson, of New York City. He 
has held up my hands all through the work, and 
has ungrudgingly bestowed upon me the benefits 
of his experience. He has made many valuable 
suggestions, and attended closely to the proof-read- 
ing. I thank him heartily. 

ROBERT SHIELLS. 
Neenah, Wisconsin, 
October 18, 1891. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Dedication 3 

Preface . . 5 

I. Introduction 9 

II. The Origin of the Token 25 

III. Modern References to the Token. ... 42 

IV. English Token Usages 47 

V. Substitutes for Tokens 55 

VI. Migration of Tokens 60 

VII. Antiquity of Tokens 76 

VIII. Tokens in the Early Protestant Records 79 

IX. Tokens in France 85 

X. Tokens in Holland 99 

XL Tokens Used by the United Brethren 106 

XII. Early Use of Tokens in Scotland.... 112 

XIII. General Use of Tokens in Scotland.. 119 

XIV. Tokens as Connected with the Lord's 

Supper 134 

XV. Notices of Special Tokens 137 

XVI. Tokens in the United States 150 

XVII. Conclusion 157 



For in her rubbish and her stones, 
Thy servants pleasure take ; 

Yea, they the very dust thereof 
Do favour for her sake. 

Psalm cii : 14. 

(Rous's Version.) 



THE STORY OF THE TOKEN. 




i. 

INTRODUCTION. 

CONSERVATIVE in all its 
ways as we esteem our 
Presbyterian Church, 
with its Books of Order 
and Discipline, it has almost 
imperceptibly changed very 
much in many of its practices 
and details. Its bare and rigid style 
of worship has gradually yielded to the 
modern desire for beauty and show. In 
music, and flowers, and aesthetic decora- 
tion, it has become second to none. It 
has begun to observe "days, and months, 
and times." Holidays which our found- 
ers would have refused even to "take 
up their names into their lips," have be- 
come " set times " in our yearly worship. 
The Church has held fast to "the form of 
sound words," but some forms that were 



10 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

once considered essential to the well-order- 
ing of its services, have become disused, 
and even obsolete. 

The celebration of the communion has 
been specially shorn of what were formerly- 
thought to be its appropriate and necessary 
solemnities. 

It is true that the simple, yet impressive 
ceremonial used to be prolonged to an 
extent that the modern church member 
would quickly rebel against. But the old- 
time worshipper did not study brevity, and 
rather insisted on "good measure, pressed 
down and running over." 

The time can still be remembered when 
it was really "the great day of the feast." 
In country parishes, observed only once a 
year — requiring a staff of ministers to 
carry out its varied and lengthy forms of 
worship — hedged about with days of fast- 
ing, and preparation, and thanksgiving, it 
was indeed, as the phrase went, "a great 
occasion," to which the people looked 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 11 

forward with desire and looked back with 
delight. 

Nowadays all is changed and our fathers 
would mournfully exclaim, u the glory is 
departed from Israel." 

If there are what may be termed sacred 
mysteries pertaining to our Presbyterian 
ritual, they are certainly those connected 
with the observance of an old-time Com- 
munion. The celebration began with the 
long penitential prayer and the other pro- 
tracted exercises of the day of humiliation 
and fasting : a day kept, if possible, with 
more than Sabbatical strictness. 

Then came the usual lengthy preparation 
services of the Saturday, followed by the 
plain, but strikingly impressive worship of 
the Sabbath itself. 

The church had then assumed an 
appearance of simple, yet awe-inspiring 
decoration. The front seats converted 
into tables, covered with spotless linen, 
looked as if they were made ready for 



12 STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 

saintly guests. The service opened with 
the usual preliminaries, which ushered in 
the "action sermon," bristling with duties, 
sparkling with promises, and fully setting 
forth the privileges to be enjoyed. This 
was the introduction to that stirring 
address known as the " fencing of the 
tables." All those who knew that they 
were presumptuously living in sin, open or 
secret, were solemnly warned not to ap- 
proach the sacred feast, as they would "eat 
and drink judgment to themselves." On 
the other hand, all who felt the sweet pains 
of repentance, who were earnestly striving 
after newness of life and sincerity of 
obedience, were lovingly invited to sit 
down at the table of the Lord and partake 
of its spiritual bounties. 

Quietly and reverently the communicants 
filed into the appointed seats. The sacra- 
mental emblems were uncovered, with all 
the modest pomp of the Communion vessels. 
The tables were "served" (as it was termed) 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 13 

by each officiating minister in turn. At 
the conclusion of his address, the vener- 
able elders dispensed the consecrated ele- 
ments, and the clergyman added a few 
words of comfort and cheer, usually dis- 
missing the worshippers with "go from His 
table, singing His praise, and the God of 
all peace go with you." As the tables were 
emptied at the one end they were slowly 
filled at the other, and so the solemnities 
went on till all had enjoyed the privilege 
of obeying the Lord's command, " This do 
in remembrance of Me." 

On one occasion (not many years ago), in 
the south of Scotland, the number present 
was so great that fifteen successive tables 
were addressed by the ministers in attend- 
ance before all the members had communi- 
cated. 

The exercises were plentifully inter- 
spersed with the singing of "those strains 
that once did sweet in Zion glide." 
Rous's Psalms, generally with the " read 



14 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

line," filled up every possible breathing 
space. I remember the One Hundred and 
Third Psalm as an especial favorite at such 
times. 

This work was kept up without intermis- 
sion for seven or eight hours. * 

There was sermon again in the evening, 
and on Monday there was a thanksgiving 
service of praise and preaching, which 
brought the great gathering to a close. 

All this has now disappeared, and the 
mutilated ceremony of to-day barely oc- 
cupies the time set apart for the ordinary 
church service. 



* The diary of Rev. John Mill, of Shetland, has 
many references to the immense labor performed by 
ministers on such occasions. He notes, August 27, 
1775, " The Sacrament was celebrated at Sandwick. 
I was told I would kill myself with so much work, 
having preached six times and served seven tables. 
I replied that, in this event, I would die in a good 
cause." And again, August, 1780, at the same 
place, he speaks of himself as " preaching all the 
day and serving seven tables." Mill's Diary, 
Edinburgh, 1889, pp. 44 and 60. 



STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 15 

My present intention is, not to moralize 
over these alterations, but to call attention 
to one minor ceremony which has fallen, 
not only into disuse, but almost into utter 
forgetfulness. 

This is, the distribution of the Tokens 
at the close of the Thursday's services, and 
the " lifting " of them on the Sabbath, when 
the communicants were seated at the sacra- 
mental table. 

There are thousands of Presbyterians in 
the United States who never even heard of 
the Communion Token and would be utter- 
ly at a loss to know how, or where, such a 
thing could be used. To all such I wish 
to offer a brief description. 

When the worshippers were being dis- 
missed on the Fast-day, the minister and 
elders stood in front of the pulpit. As the 
members filed past, those who were in 
good standing and worthy to communicate, 
were handed each a small piece of metal 
known as a Token. 



16 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

The importance and solemnity with 
which this distribution was regarded may- 
be inferred from what is recorded of 
Rev. George Gillespie, minister of Strath- 
miglo, Scotland. " He* never gave a 
Token of admission to the Lord's Supper 
without a trembling hand and a throbbing 
heart." * 

The individual appearance of applicants 
used to be strictly insisted on. The Ses- 
sion Records of Edinburgh, 1574, appoint 
that " the whole communicants come in 
proper person upon Friday next, at two 
hours afternoon, and receive their tickets 
in the places of examination/' f This rule 
of personal presence was long enforced 
throughout the entire church. I remem- 
ber hearing it condemned as a very loose 
practice, when some ministers relaxed so 
far as to give Tokens, when neighbors 



* Scott's Fasti. Vol. IV., p. 510. 
f Edgar's Old Church Life in Scotland. Vol. I., 
p. 134. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 17 

asked them for absent friends who were 
unable to be present. 

In the days when Church discipline was 
real and meant something, persons resting 
under temporary disqualification were sum- 
marily refused Tokens, and were thus de- 
barred from the coming solemnities.* Those 
who feared rejection, refrained from pre- 
senting themselves. 

On the Sabbath, when the elders passed 
along the tables, they received from each 
communicant the token which vouched for 
his being of the "household of faith" and 
gave him a right to sit with the people of 
God. This, in short, was the manner of 



* In many Churches, ah annual list was made up 
of those who were to be refused Tokens, and the 
names were frequently continued from year to year. 
Still this discreditable roll did not by any means 
consist of those who were liable to expulsion, or 
even to the minor excommunication. In Mauchline, 
1775, John Richmond joined the Secession Church 
and his name was forthwith added to the black list, 
without his being cited or troubled in any way. 
Edgar's Old Church Life. Vol. I, p. 281. 



18 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

using those diminutive tablets. Greatly- 
honored, and even reverenced they were 
by the devout men and women who had 
them in keeping only for a day or two, and 
who looked upon them as their passport of 
entrance into the very Holy of Holies of 
their religion. To them, the Token was 
like the wedding garment of the parable 
and was deemed equally indispensable. 

Little of this now remains. The Token 
has apparently outlived its usefulness. In 
this country some churches of the United 
Presbyterian, and the Reformed Presby- 
terian bodies, still "ask for the old paths 
and walk therein," though the Token is 
gradually falling out of repute with them 
also. Even in Scotland it is now being 
superseded by a system of cards and 
checks which serve to show how regu- 
larly each member " waits upon the ordi- 
nances." 

The Token itself was usually a small 
plate of lead, marked with some device 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 19 

referring to the congregation which owned 
it, or to the ordinance with which it was 
connected, the date- of church organization 
or of pastorate,* and, " Let a man examine 
himself," or some such appropriate text. 
On some specimens a large numeral stand- 
ing by itself, indicated the number of the 
table at which the communicant ought to 
present himself. Any or all of these were 
stamped on the little piece of metal and 
marked it as being "set apart from a com- 
mon to a holy use." 

A somewhat modern innovation in all 
the Token countries is the use of Tokens 
without "a local habitation or a name." 
They have neither place nor date to iden- 
tify them with a home. Garnished with 
some goodly texts to mark their sacred 
office, they can be used any where and are 
known as Stock Tokens. 



*I believe that no dated Scotch Tokens are 
found before the early part of the seventeenth 
century. 



20 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 



Churches in the large towns sometimes 
mixed secular with sacred emblems on the 
consecrated medals, and displayed their 
city arms. I have such examples from 
Glasgow and Perth, as well as from the 
metropolitan city of Edinburgh. These last 
bear the familiar and not inappropriate 
motto, Nisi Dominus Frustra* 

In 1559, I find the 
Edinburgh Dean of Guild 
contracting with one of 
the city goldsmiths for 
"tikkets" and " stamping 
of thame." The same 
functionary has, till with- 
in a few years, furnished 
the Edinburgh Establish- 
ed Church Tokens. Like 
the consuls of ancient 

*Nisi Dominus cusiodierit civitatem, frustra 
vigilat qui custodit earn. Psalm cxxvii : I. 
Except the Lord the city keep, 
The watchmen watch in vain. 

Rous's Version. 




STORY OF THE TOREK 



21 



Rome, the Dean perpetuated his executive 
connection with the city by marking his 
initials and date of office on each issue of 
the Tokens.* I have six of 
these magisterial vouchers, 
the dates running from 1754 
to 1837. I also have armorial 
Tokens from Haddington and 
from the ancient burgh of 
Canongate. The motto of 
the latter is strikingly sug- 
l.gestive in this connection, 
.J Sic itur ad astra. ("Thus 




do we reach the stars, "or " immortality.")! 

Country parishes could not command the 

services of an artist who "devised cunning 

* The illustration shows the obverse and reverse 
of one of those civic Tokens ; R. J. D. G. stands 
for Robert Johnston, Dean of Guild. 

f The goat on the shield-shaped Token, is the 
cognizance of the ancient burgh of Haddington. 
The stag's head, with the crosslet between its 
horns, is the crest of the Canongate arms. It refers 
to a well known incident in Scottish history, A. D. 
1128. 



22 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

works, to work in gold and in silver." Their 
Tokens were generally rude and primitive 
in design, and showed what might be the 
handiwork of the village blacksmith. 
Wealthy congregations had them of more 
artistic patterns. Some were aristocratic 
enough to use Tokens of nickel and even 
of silver. 

I have one from the First Reformed 
Presbyterian Church of New York City, 
which is made of ivory. The only case I 
know of where this material has been 
used. This Token was employed in the 
Church services up to a very recent 
date. 

Tokens were usually cast in a mould or 
struck as with an old-fashioned coin stamp. 
Not a few antique specimens have the in- 
scriptions simply indented with letter 
punches. Inventories of church property 
very often include the Token mould. 

In May, 1590, I find that Patrick Guthrie, 
a goldsmith in St. Andrews and deacon of 



STOBY OF THE TOKEN. 23 

the guild of hammermen, " has made the 
irons for striking of the Tokens to the com- 
munion, and has received from the session 
for his pains xls." In July, 1590, it is 
noted that " the session has paid to Patrick 
Guthrie, for two thousand Tokens to the 
communion, ten merks."* Soon after this, 
there is mention that upwards of three 
thousand communicants partook of the 
Lord's Supper in St. Andrews, so that a 
large number of Tokens must have been 
necessary. 

To keep up the needful supply of Tokens 
was considered a duty incumbent on the 
minister. At his installation, he would 
probably be reminded to walk in the way 
of his predecessor in this, as in other par- 
ticulars. I have read of a case where the 
mould was formally handed to the new 
pastor, as if it had been a necessary badge 
of his ministerial office. 



* Register of St. Andrews Kirk Session, pp. 
672, 677. 



24 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

It was a common custom to get a new 
pattern for the Token when a new minister 
was ordained, and there were instances of 
clergymen vain enough to insist on this as 
a means of transmitting their names to 
posterity. 

Some Laodicean sessions sold their old 
Tokens as waste metal, though generally 
they were melted down for the new issue. 
Some ultra scrupulous officials buried their 
discarded symbols, lest they should be 
profaned by being used for any meaner 
purpose. 

It will scarcely be believed that, even at 
the present day, some ministers have buried 
their disused Tokens, for fear they should 
fall into the possession of an intelligent 
collector, who would thus be sacrilegiously 
guilty of laying hold of the ark of the 
covenant with unhallowed hands. 



II, 

THE ORIGIN OF THE TOKEN. 

A Token has been exactly defined as "a 
sign, mark, or remembrancer of something 
beyond itself. A pledge that something 
then specified shall be done or given." 
. When God brought Noah out of the ark, 
He said, "This is the token of the covenant 
which I make between Me and you, — I do 
set my bow in the cloud, and it shall 
be for a token between Me and the 
earth." 

We find tokens of various kinds often 
repeated in His dealings with His chosen 
servants and His people. 

It may be noted here, that from the first 
time the word is used in the Authorized 
Version of the Bible, "This is the token of 
the covenant," (Gen. ix: 12) to its last men- 
tion by St. Paul, (2 Thess. 111: 17) "mine 



26 STORY OF THE TOKEX. 

own hand,— the token in every epistle," 
the word is invariably " a token for good," 
with one terrible exception, (Mark xiv: 44) 
"he that betrayed Him had given them a 
token." 

In the Apocryphal Book of Tobit there 
is an excellent illustration of the use of 
Tokens in daily life. My black-letter copy 
of 1584 refers to the practice more plainly 
than the common version. Tobit lends his 
friend Gabael ten talents of silver " under 
an handwriting." In his poverty many 
years afterwards, he remembers the loan 
and commissions his son Tobias to recover 
the money from Gabael, " and give him 
his handwriting again." Tobias objects, 
that he is a stranger to the debtor and asks 
(Tobit v: 2) "what token shall I give him?" 
Tobit makes answer that Xhzc/iirograp hum, 
which is still in his possession, will be suf- 
ficient evidence that Tobias is the proper 
person to receive the silver. All which 
proved to be correct. Gabael acknowledged 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 27 

and redeemed his token by prompt and 
full payment of the debt. 

In all ages, and among all nations, there 
was a constant endeavor to invent a suitable 
emblem which would mark its possessor as 
the votary of some special religion, and re- 
veal him, either openly or secretly, to his 
fellow-believers. Among such symbols 
may be specified amulets, talismans, scara- 
baei, phylacteries, Gnostic gems and scapu- 
laries. 

The Abraxas stones of the first and 
second centuries are a strong case in 
point. 

The Greek system of numeral letteis 
had been in use since the days of Homer. 
About the time of the Christian era, many 
fanciful applications of this value of letters 
were much in vogue. Even St. John (Rev. 
xiii: 1 8) makes use of the then familiar 
method. " Let him that hath understanding 
count the number of the beast: for it is the 
number of a man." 



28 8 TORY OF THE TOREK 

Basilides, a Gnostic heretic {circa A. D. 
no) and founder of a sect, adopted the 
mystic word Abraxas, or Abrasax, as com- 
prising the letters which represented 365, 
the number of the emanations of perfec- 
tions on which his system rested. Gems or 
Tokens, engraved with this name, were ac- 
counted all-powerful for a great variety of 
purposes, when the possessors had attained 
to a full understanding of the things signi- 
fied. At the same time, they were first 
given to neophytes as a convenient symbol 
by which they could be recognized at once, 
and admitted to the secret gatherings 
where their enlightenment was to be com- 
pleted. 

Singularly enough, in connection with 
the subject in hand, it is stated that "these 
gems were composed of various materials, 
— glass, paste, minerals, and sometimes of 
metal." * 



* George Fort, Medical Economy during the 
Middle Ages. London, 1883. pp. 93-98. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 29 

Tokens had thus become a custom fully 
recognized by the nations at large, especially 
by those guilds and brotherhoods so com- 
mon among the peoples of antiquity. 

The Roman Tesserae, or Tokens, were 
freely used for identifying those who had 
been initiated into the Eleusinian and 
other sacred mysteries. They were given to 
the victors at the public games, as vouchers 
that they were for life, the wards of the 
state. They were given to poor citizens as 
an order on the authorities for a certain 
amount of grain. 

A tessera nummaria performed the func- 
tions of a modern bill of exchange, or as in 
the case of Tobit, of a note of hand. The 
tesserae conviviales must have been nearly 
the same as our invitation cards to a party, 
and were handed to the slave who kept the 
door at the banqueting house. 

The exigencies of modern society in 
large cities are compelling a return to the 
ancient practice. Guests who are bidden 



30 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

to a fashionable reception are now required 
to show their cards as a guarantee that they 
have really been invited. 

When the Roman ambassadors went to 
Carthage on a mission involving war or 
peace, they offered the Carthaginians two 
tesserae, one marked with a spear, the other 
with a caduceus, and requested them to 
take their choice. * 

Tesserae were largely used as New Year's 
gifts and often bore inscriptions almost 
identical with those on our own festival 
cards. " May the New Year prove fortu- 
nate and happy unto thee," {Annum Novum 
faustum et felicem ttbi) is an example in 
point. f 



* Hasta et caduceus, signa duo belli aut pads. 
The caduceus was originally an olive branch, the 
universal emblem of peace. The hasta was the 
recognized symbol of legal possession. Smith's 
Diet, of Greek and Ro7Jian Antiq., Art. Tessera, 
p. 799- 

f Martigny, Diet. Antiq. Chre't. Art. Etrennes, 
p. 241. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 31 

Martigny describes a tessera of rock-crystal, 
the legend on which proves that it was a 
New Year's gift to the Emperor Coramo- 
dus, circa A. D. 190.* 

More sacred than all were the tesserae 
hospitales which were used between families 
bound together by the closest ties of in- 
terest and love. Such a tessera gave the 
holder a claim on the protection of all those 
who knew its secret meaning. It descended 
as an heirloom from one generation to 
another. The homeless and wayworn wan- 
derer was admitted into the bosom of the 
allied household and had all his wants sup- 
plied if he could show, (even though it was 
years before) that their respective forefa- 
thers had exchanged the tesserae of concord 
and friendship. 

The early Christian Church would readi- 
ly adopt the custom as a safeguard against 
traitors and informers. The defection of 
" the man of Kerioth " taught the perse- 
* Martigny, Diet. Antiq. Chre't., p. 632. 



32 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

cuted brethren the necessity for a Token 
and a password to be entrusted only to 
those of tried and approved standing. 

We do know that tesserae baptismales 
were given to the converts who, by baptism, 
were added to the Church. 

In the Apocalypse we find the promise 
" to him that overcometh " in the church 
at Pergamos, (Rev. n : 17) "I will give him 
a white stone, and in the stone a new 
name written, which no man knoweth, 
saving he that receiveth it." Does not 
this plainly refer to the tessera that 
admitted the stranger brother to the 
agapae and communion feasts of the primi- 
tive believers ? Is it not an allusion to a 
form known and used by all to whom the 
Apostle was writ-ing ? 

It is worthy of notice that the rewards 
which are to be given " to him that over- 
cometh " in the other six churches, are all 
well known blessings, easily understood 
and applied to spiritual honors and benefits 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 33 

which are more or less familiar to every 
one. The distinction promised to mem- 
bers of the church at Pergamos is the 
only one to the nature of which we now 
attach any doubt or uncertainty. When 
the light of the tessera, or Token, is turned 
upon the promise, all obscurity vanishes. 
The true meaning is clearly evident and 
" the secret of the Lord stands revealed." 

The Token must thus have come down 
to us from the earliest times of Christian- 
ity. When it was difficult to tell who 
could be trusted, it would be readily 
accepted as a convenient method for ex- 
cluding impostors who sought to destroy 
the new faith, or renegades who had 
disgraced their profession. 

I am not church historian enough to 
trace the continuous use of Tokens down 
through the ages. The sources of infor- 
mation at my command are too limited 
to furnish me with full details on the sub- 
ject. At the same time I cannot help find- 



34 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

ing my opinion strongly confirmed by 
several of the practices connected with 
admission into the early Christian Church. 

The fathers evidently came near the 
pattern set by the Pythagorean and Platonic 
schools of philosophy. They probably did 
not carry the system of exoteric and esoteric 
teachings as far as the philosophers, but 
they followed their example very closely. 

The Lord's injunction (Matt, vn: 6) 
C| give not that which is holy unto the dogs, 
neither cast ye your pearls before swine," 
was literally obeyed in their intercourse 
with the heathen. They further defended 
their conduct in this respect by the words of 
St. Paul to the Corinthians, (i Cor. in: i) " I 
could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, 
but as unto carnal, ,, and dwelt strongly on 
the differences set forth in Heb. v: 12-14, of 
" milk for the babes," and " strong meat 
for them that are of full age."* 



*" We speak wisdom among them that are per- 
fect," or initiated. TaXsiOl, 1 Cor. II : 6. 



STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 35 

A system known as the Arcani Disciplina, 
or secret teaching, became the recog- 
nized practice of the Church. This pre- 
vailed from the middle of the second 
century and regulated the intercourse of 
the Fideles, or fully initiated believers, with 
all who were outside of the pale. The 
simplest doctrines were not even stated to 
the heathen neighbor, who disputed 
merely for the sake of argument. The 
enquirer who seemed actuated by a better 
spirit had the rudiments of the new faith 
carefully and sparingly revealed to him. 
Even when recognized as a Catechumen* or 
convert under training, his course of 
probation was prolonged and sometimes 
tedious. 

Catechumens were broadly divided into 
two classes, the Audientes, or hearers, and 



*This term is used {Acts xvni: 25) in connection 
with Apollos who "was instructed in the way of 
the Lord." Jfarr^OV/^fVOS^—catechumenized,— 
initiated. 



36 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

the Competentes, or those who nvere 
sufficiently taught. The hearers were per 
mitted to attend the opening services of 
the Church, such as the psalms and the 
sermon, but were sent away before the 
prayers. The sacraments, the creeds, and 
the sublime doctrines of the Trinity, and 
the atonement were reckoned among the 
hidden mysteries {occulta) only to be made 
known to those who were fully initiated 
and accounted as Fideles, the faithful 
ones. The properly instructed novices 
were accepted as candidates for baptism 
and advanced accordingly. Even their 
progress was so gradual that they were 
taught the Lord's Prayer only a week 
before they were baptized. 

At the celebration of the Holy Com- 
munion the greatest care and vigilance 
were used so as to exclude all unbelievers 
or improper persons. The church doors 
were shut and guarded by the appointed 
officers. The neophytes were sent away, 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 37 

(missa catechumenoruvi) and even the faith- 
ful were not admitted if they came late to 
the solemnity. " Let the doors be watched, 
lest any unbelieving or uninitiated person 
enter," was the emphatic commandment.* 

When the ceremony was about to com- 
mence, when the priest stood ready to 
uncover the elements which had been set 
on the communion table and covered with 
the sacred veil, the deacon shouted, " the 
doors ! the doors !" The attendants sprang 
forward to close the church gates and keep 
out all who had not attained to full 
membership. f 

The trouble that might ensue "because 
of false brethren unawares brought in, who 
came in privily to spy out our liberty/' (Gal. 
ii : 4) was sedulously guarded against. Un- 
known members from distant congregations 



*Smith and Cheetham's Dicty. Christ. Antiq. y 
Art. Holy Communion, p. 413. 

\ Dicty. Christ. Aniiq., Art. Canon of the 
Liturgy, p. 273. 



38 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

had to present Letters of Communion or of 
Commendation {Litter ae communicatoriae 
aut commendatoriae) from the churches to 
which they belonged. 

The first of these letters seem to have 
been akin to the Tokens and admitted the 
bearers to participate in the Holy Com- 
munion. The second were more general 
and commended the strangers not only to 
the privileges of the Church, but also to 
the confidence and hospitality of the 
membership. They were such letters as 
St. Paul speaks of (2 Cor. 111: 1) " need we, 
as some others, epistles of commendation 
to you, or letters of commendation from 
you? ,, By virtue of his office as an 
apostle, he neither brought them nor 
required them. They were such letters 
as were given to Apollos when he went 
from Ephesus to Achaia and " the 
brethren wrote exhorting the disciples to 
receive him. "(Acts xvm: 27.) Both formulas 
differed from the Dimissory Letters which 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 39 

were granted to those who made a perma- 
nent change of residence and church 
connection. 

Still another document called a Koinon- 
ikon (xoivGDvixor) was given to the really 
poor Christian who depended on the 
charity of his brethren to help him on his 
journey and also looked to them for 
church fellowship. His claims for spirit- 
ual and temporal recognition were not to 
be allowed unless he was duly accredited. 
The church rule was plain and emphatic, 
11 if he shall choose to go without one, ,, 
[littera peregrinoruni) "let him be removed 
from communion."* On the other hand, 
wherever the Christian traveller journeyed, 
if he went provided with the appointed 
letters, he found that the "communion of 
peace," {communicatio pads) and the "bond 
of hospitality among strangers" {contesse- 
ratio hospitalitatis) were fully recognized. 



*Dicty. Christ, Antiq., p. 907. 



40 STORY OF 7 HE TOKEN. 

In course of time, many of these differ- 
ent letters were written without any name 
being inserted. This was afterwards con- 
demned as a lax and pernicious practice, 
since it permitted them to be handed from 
one person to another.* For an additional 
security, the seal of the church or bishop 
was affixed to the letter, and it seems 
probable that the sigillum, or seal alone, 
came to be accepted as a sufficient voucher. 
At length, any certificate of member- 
ship was designated as a Formata y a 
word which signifies not only a formal re- 
script or mandate, but also the stamp or 
official impression on a coin or piece of 
metal. 

The whole system of supervision was so 
strict and so efficient that an eminent au- 
thorf does not hesitate to assert that " no 

* Dicty. Christ. Antiq., p. 408. The practice was 
formally condemned by the Council of Aries, A. D. 

314. 

f The late Dean Plumptre in the Dicty. Christ. 
Antiq., Art. Commendatory Letters, p. 407. 



STOBY OF THE TOKEN. 41 

single practice of the early Christian 
Church tended so much as this, to impress 
on it the stamp of unity and organiza- 
tion." 



III. 

MODERN REFERENCES TO THE TOKEN. 

This is as far as I have been able to 
identify the established checks and safe- 
guards of the primitive Church with the 
issue and use of the communion Tokens. 
Some better scholar may be able to take 
up the clue I have indicated and follow it 
to a certainty. 

At the same time, the following authori- 
ties seem to strengthen my position that the 
Tokens, or tesserae, of the Greeks and Ro- 
mans had easily paved the way for the 
introduction of communion certificates 
(formatae) into the Christian Church. 

A learned Episcopal writer* says, u in the 
time of persecution, Christians recognized 
each other by secret signs or symbols, 



* Venerable Samuel Cheetham, M.A., King's Col- 
lege, London. Dicty. Christ. Antiq. Art. Tesserae, 
p. 1952. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 43 

whether spoken as watchwords, or pictorial. 
Small tablets engraved with such symbols 
were called Tesserae. It seems also prob- 
able that Christians, like their pagan fore- 
fathers, gave Tesserae to each other as 
pledges of friendship." 

A distinguished prelate in the Roman 
Catholic Church* writes as follows, — " The 
early Christians had the Tokens you refer 
to, as signs of their faith and as a means of 
being recognized by each other, even in 
the second century. These emblems were 
of ivory, of metal, and of stone. I think 
that metallic tablets were used as signs of 
having received communion. The custom 
of giving such Tokens is well known. It 
is kept up at the present day in Rome, by 
means of printed cards. I have seen the 
little fishes {tesserae bapttsmales) with a 
hole pierced through them for the purpose 



* Rt. Rev. F. S. Chatard, Bishop of Vincennes, 
and formerly Rector of the American College at 
Rome, Italy. 



44 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

of carrying them about the person. These 
little fishes {pisciculi) and other objects 
were undoubtedly in use among the Chris- 
tians as signs of their faith." This gentle- 
man has had exceptional advantages for 
the study and observation of the subject, 
and his remarks are entitled to great 
weight. 

I learn from another high authority in 
the Roman Catholic Church* that, " for 
some time after the Council of Trent, com- 
munion certificates were used in several 
countries, but not in all." He could not 
decide whether they were ever made of 
metal or not. 

Another learned clergymanf of the same 
faith writes that " communion certificates 
are, even now, given in Bavaria and some 
other countries." He also states that " in 
Rome, the Chapter of St. Peter's at one 



* The Rev. Dr. Philip Grace, of Newport, R. I. 
f Rev. P. M. Abbelen, Father Superior of Notre 
Dame, Milwaukee, Wis. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 45 

time issued 30,000 certificates in one 
year." 

A priest who had charge of a large 
parish in Dundee, Scotland, for eight years, 
writes that he " made use of the 'tickets' 
for communion purposes. They were given 
to intending communicants on Saturday, 
and then they delivered them up before 
going to the altar on Sunday." He says 
they were Tokens in the true sense of the 
word. Although he has never seen any 
thing but cards used, he thinks that, in 
years past, there have been other Tokens 
in use. He " feels certain that Tokens do 
not belong to the time of John Knox, but 
are an old Catholic tradition." 

On the other hand, a learned Cathedral 
Superior, in Scotland,* is equally certain 
that " the Token is a purely Protestant 
institution. The imposing of any outward 
barrier to communicate is out of harmony 



*Rt. Rev. Mgr. Alexander Munro, D.D., Pro- 
vost of Glasgow Cathedral. 



46 STORY OF IRE TOKEN. 

with the feeling and tradition of the 
Church." At the same time he concedes 
that, for local considerations, and to check 
abuses, Tokens have been utilized from 
time to time. In his own diocese, a few 
years ago, they were used and used wisely, 
for more than twenty years, but were dis- 
carded as soon as practicable. He also says 
that in the early ages of the Church, there 
must have been some ready way of admit- 
ting the faithful to communion and exclud- 
ing enemies from the Christian assemblies. 
For this purpose, something correspond- 
ing to a Token may have been used. 
I have in my collection this card Token 

so long used in the Cathedral Church of 

i 

Glasgow. It is marked with the Greek word 
^waSfis (a convocation or gathering). 
The term is usually applied to devotional 
meetings. A familiar expression is, Ad sa- 
cram synaxim accedere. (" To go to Holy 
Communion.") 



IV. 

ENGLISH TOKEN USAGES. 

At the beginning of the 15th century 
the currency of England was in the worst 
possible condition. Not only had the coin- 
age been debased on account of political 
necessity, but there was a perfect dearth 
of small change. Billon, or black money 
of mere nominal value was brought over 
from the English mints in France. Abbey 
Tokens and jetons of every kind passed 
for fractional parts of a penny, no matter 
whether they had been struck for sacred 
or secular purposes. The tesserae sacrae 
which served as passports for the inferior 
clergy travelling from one monastery to 
another, the "medals of presence" and 
other church and communion pieces passed 
indiscriminately with the leaden medalets 
of the tavern-keeper and the tradesman. As 
many as 3,000'varieties of this latter class are 



48 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

. known, and they continued in circulation 
till the close of the 17th century. 

About A. D. T500, Erasmus speaks of 
the plumbos Aiigliae, and they are often 
casually referred to as being used by com- 
municants and for sacramental purposes.* 

In the time of Queen Mary of England, 
1554-55, Cardinal Pole appointed every 
parish priest to keep account of all those 
who, on a stated day, had not attended to 
their communion duty. And again, in 1557, 
he calls for the names of those who had not 
been reconciled to the Church. 

The Token-Books of St. Saviour's 
Church, Southwark, are still in existence 
and form a complete directory of all the 
streets, lanes, and alleys in the parish. 
Every parishioner's name is carefully en- 
tered at his residence and the list must 



* John Yonge Akerman, Tradesmen's Tokens. 
London, 1849. p. 6. 

Stanley Lane Poole, Coins and Medals. London, 
1885. p. 128. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 49 

have been compiled from a domiciliary 
visitation. * It would appear as if all were 
virtually compelled to attend communion, 
and conformity was insisted on. 

Recusants are duly marked and some- 
times commented on. One is noted as an 
Anabaptist and ** had no Token last year." 
Another is accounted for as " a Brownist," 
and a third calls out the pointed remark, 
" Mr. Swetson knows who paid no Token." 
Edward Matthew is gibbeted as " a very 
badd (sic) husband and cometh not to the 
communion." 

These books were written up annually, 
and extend from 1559 to 1630, covering 
nearly all of Queen Elizabeth's time, the 
entire reign of James I., and the first five 
years of Charles I. In 1596 the lists show 
2,200 Tokens sold at two-pence each, 



* The names of many leading actors of the 
Shakesperean era are found in these books. Among 
others, sixteen of those whose names are printed in 
the first edition of his plays. 



50 STOBY OF THE TOKEN. 

and in 1620 nearly 2,000 at threepence 
each.* 

In 1658, the parish accounts of Newbury, 
Berkshire, are charged with 300 Tokens at 
three shillings and sixpence. A later 
Token of this parish is still to be met with. 
Rev. Joseph Sayer was the incumbent from 
1666 to 1674. His Tokens are marked 
with a Bible, and the inscription, " Joseph 
Sayer, Rector of Newbury." 

In 1659 the parish records of Henley-on- 
Thames, Oxfordshire, make mention of 
Tokens being in use and designate them 
as " communion halfpence." 

The church register of St. Peter's of 
Mancroft, Norwich, also records the use of 
Tokens and gives minute details of their 
cost and manufacture, as well as of the 



^Token- House-Yard is a cul-de-sac off Throg- 
morton street, near the Bank of England. It may 
be that its name is more intimately connected with 
the Tradesmen's Tokens of the 15th, 16th and 17th 
centuries than with the Communion Tokens spoken 
of in the text. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 51 

communion dues collected by means of 
them.* 



* In the parish account book of St. Peter's of 
Mancroft, Norwich, are the following entries : 

A. D. L. s. D. 

1632. Paid for moulds to cast tokens in o 4 o 

1633. Paid to Norman for leaden tokens 006 
1640. Paid to Thomas Turner for 300 

tokens o 3 O 

1644. Paid to Howard, the plomer, for 

tokens o o o 

1659. Paid to Goodman Tenton for cut- 
ting a mould for the tokens. ... 026 
1680. Paid to the Widow Harwood for 

lead tokens 050 

1683. Paid Mrs. Harrold for new tokens 010 
1684 " " " 010 

1686. Paid for tokens bought, and herbs 

for the church o 2 6 

The following is an account of the receivings, by 
tokens, of the communicants at various times : 

A. D. L. s. D. 

1682. Paid for bread aud wine, more 

than received by tokens o 19 I 

1683. Paid for bread and wine, more 

than received by tokens o 15 I 

1685. Received by tokens 3 o n^ 

1686. Received by tokens at eleven 

communions in the said year.. 3 18 6 

1687. Received by tokens at ten com- 

munions in the said year 3 2 3 

The last similar entry in the book is in 1696. 
Akerman, Tradesmen' s Tokens, London, 1849. 
pp. 4, 5- 



52 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

In the diocese of Durham the clergy 
farmed out their Easter and other dues. 
From this custom grew considerable scan- 
dal, and a consequent trial for the irreve- 
rent disturbing of public worship on Palm 
Sunday, Good Friday and Easter. It is 
given in evidence that one John Richardson 
" tooke Easter reckeninges of such people 
as received the holie communion, and there 
accompted with them, and delivered and 
received Tokens of them, as is used in other 
parishes." Another witness tells how 
Richardson's deputies usually wrote down 
"the names of all the then communicants, 
not householders, and att the tyme of 
writinge there names, dow deliver them 
Tokens, which in the tyme of the adminis- 
tracion of the sacrament, they call for 
againe, to the end that they may knowe 
whoe-doe pay the Easter offerings and whoe 
doe not/' 

Still another witness states that he had 
seen "Richardson at Easter tyme goe upp 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 53 

and dovvne amongst the communicants, and 
in time of receiving the holie communion 
receive of some communicants some mon- 
ies, and take in certain leade Tokens (as 
the use of the parish is) from such as had 
formerlie by there maisters reckoned and 
payed." And that he had "seene all whoe 
were under-farmors to Richardson since 
that tyme doe the like."* 

The Presbyterian Church never exacted 
such dues and " never sold her sacraments.'* 

The following extract from a work on 
Commercial Tokens also refers to the an- 
tiquity of Church Tokens. 

"(No.)i3i9. the comomon (Commun- 
ion) cvpp — Sacramental cup and cover. — 
Rev. i. h. s. A cross, Calvary, rising from 
the horizontal bar of the h ; and seven 
stars below." 



* Acts of the High Commission Court within the 
Diocese of Durham. Surtees Society, pp. 82-100. 

For most of the above English facts I am in- 
debted to Notes and Queries, 1878-79. 



54 STORY OF THE TOKEN 

"Possibly this piece has reference to what 
is occasionally noticed in church-wardens* 
accounts as token money. James the First, 
by patent dated May 18, 1609, granted to 
Francis Philips and Richard More, the 
rectory and church of St. Sepulchre in the 
city of London, with all its rights, mem- 
bers and appurtenances ; ' also all tithes and 
profits of the servants and apprentices, and 
strangers (extraneorum), and other parish- 
ioners, commonly called the teken money^ 
paid or payable at Easter time.' The cus- 
tom, it is said, prevailed long before the 
period of the Reformation, when each pa- 
rishioner was 'houselled,' that is, received 
the sacrament and was shrived ; though the 
practice has long since been commuted by 
the payment of a certain sum."* 



* Jacob Henry Burn. " Descriptive Catalogue 
of the London Trader s\ Tavern and Coffee-House 
Tokens current in the Seventeenth Century. " 2nd 
edition, London, 1855. page 265. 



V. 

SUBSTITUTES FOR TOKENS. 

The English Episcopal service contains 
the following rubric which evidently takes 
the place of the Token, as a check 
on unworthy communicating. " So many 
as intend to be partakers of the Holy Com- 
munion, shall signify their names to the 
Curate at least some time the day before." 
The Curate is further enjoined to watch 
for any that may be evil livers, or that 
cherish malice and hatred against their 
neighbors, &c, &c. He is to exclude all 
such, " not suffering them to be partakers 
of the Lord's Table, until he knows them 
to be reconciled." 

At the risk of introducing extraneous 
matter, I quote from the rubric providing 
for the administration of the sacrament 
which directs that the minister shall first 
partake of the bread and wine, "then he 



56 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

shall deliver the same to the bishops, 
priests and deacons in like manner, (if any 
be present) and after that to the people 
also in order." In some English country 
parishes, the last two words have been 
subjected to a curious interpretation. The 
squire, or leading man in the parish, com- 
municated first. Then the subordinate 
gentry, then the people at large according 
to their station in life. The scale of 
precedence was as well defined as the 
entree to a diplomatic dinner. 

In this connection I recall an incident 
which the narrator tells he saw about 
thirty years ago. He was visiting in York- 
shire where the squire of the parish had 
lately died. There was communion service 
the first Sunday after the funeral. When 
the time came for communicating, the con- 
gregation kept their seats till the dead 
man's personal servant opened the door of 
the empty pew, and went through the form 
of letting some one pass out. After this 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 57 

ghostly pantomine had been enacted, the 
sacramental services proceeded as usual.* 

An Episcopal dignitary in Brechin, 
Scotland, states that "it was formerly the 
custom, on the Sunday before Holy 
Communion, to receive the names of those 
intending to communicate and note them 
down as they passed out of church. This 
was continued for a good while. "f 

I have at present in my possession, 
drawings of a considerable number of 
Tokens belonging to Episcopal churches, 
mostly in the north of Scotland. One 
specimen is marked " + S. Andrew's 
(Episcopal) Chapel, Glasgow, 1750." 
Nearly all of them pertain to the 17th and 
18th centuries. 

I have in my collection, a modern card 
on which is printed, " All Saints' Church, 
Edinburgh," and "Easter Communion." 
This seems conclusive evidence that the 



* Notes and Queries, Jan'y, 1890. 

f Very Rev. James Crabb, Dean of the diocese. 



58 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

Episcopal Church has not altogether 
abandoned the use of communion checks 
and Tokens. 

I have an old volume (London, 1691) 
entitled " Letters from Italy." The writer 
travelled much in company with priests 
and, according to the custom of the time 
and the country, generally lodged at 
monasteries and religious houses. Again 
and again he incidentally refers to expe- 
riences with spurious priests and pilgrims. 
These vagabond devotees journeyed with 
counterfeit letters of credence and false 
seals and certificates. " Letters of obedi- 
ence " were palmed off for " letters of 
devotion." Forged letters of pilgrimage 
with the broad seal of the archbishop 
could be bought at reasonable rates. The 
whole narrative shows the serious imposi- 
tions which the early Church must have 
had to contend with and which her officers 
strove to avert by their rigid system of 
checks and safeguards. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 59 

I cannot help taking all these dif- 
ferent items as strong proofs of the 
continuous antiquity and universality of 
the Token. 



VI. 

MIGRATION OF TOKENS. 

I also find that even the modern Token 
has done duty as a voucher for member- 
ship or a certificate of dismission. It was 
at one time a common practice in Scotland 
for members who were leaving one parish 
for another, to carry with them the Token 
of their home church as an introduction to 
their new brethren. In this way, Tokens 
are often found in Scotland, far from the 
church which originally issued them. I 
have picked up Scotch Tokens, both in the 
United States and in Canada, which had 
been brought across the sea in place of 
regular church letters. 

I possess one notable spec- 
imen of the transmigration 
of Tokens. It is marked 
U A. C. D.,* 1788." It 






*" A. C. D.," i. e. Associate Congregation, Dairy. 



STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 61 

originally comes from Dairy, Scotland. 
In 1822, the Rev. Dr. Gemmill, from 
Dairy, Ayrshire, organized a church in 
Lanark, Ontario. He seems to have 
brought his full equipment with him, and 
the Dairy Token still performs communion 
duty in the far-off Canadian village. 

I am indebted to Dr. Gemmill's im- 
ported Token-bag, for another rare and in- 
teresting specimen, almost or altogether 
unknown in Scotland. It is 
marked " T. S. A." Rev. 
Samuel Arnot was ordained 
at Tongland, Kirkcudbright- 
shire, in 1661. Casting in 
his lot with the Covenanters, he was 
expelled by the Government, in 1662. 
Warrants were issued for his apprehension 
and a price set on his head. He died, 
while under hiding, in 1688, just before 
the Revolution brought deliverance to 
him, and all such persecuted wanderers. 
At this late day, his Token is unveiled 



r BVV\^V"V\/VN/V^> 



fe% <f4 



IS* 



62 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

in Canada, a silent witness to his faith- 
fulness. 

I have another migratory Token from 
Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Rev. Thomas 
Trotter came there from Johns Haven, 
Scotland, bringing with him his old Tokens 
marked " Asso. Con. Johns Haven." 
"Rev'd Thos. Trotter, 1808." These To- 
kens were used at Antigonish as long as 
the custom prevailed in that Church. 

The above mention of Dr. Gemmill sug- 
gests one of those controversies which have 
been waged concerning every rite and ce- 
remony pertaining to the observance of 
the communion. This special contention 
is known as the " lifting of the elements." 
Is the " taking " of the bread and the cup 
to be regarded as a " sacramental action ?" 
If it is so, the " lifters " held that, when 
the minister says " our Lord took bread," 
he should take bread also and hold it in 
his hand while he gives thanks, according 
to the example of our Lord. The other 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 63 

party opposed this as being ritualistic and, 
virtually, a revival of the elevation of the 
host. The dispute at one time was very 
bitter. The synod finally permitted min- 
isters and congregations to settle it as they 
pleased. 

Because " lifting" was not enjoined, Dr. 
Gemmill and a few other clergymen left 
the Church and tried to form a separate 
Presbytery. The effort was not successful. 
Their adherents dwindled away and Dr. 
Gemmill emigrated to Canada. The scat- 
tered members were long known as " the 
Breadlifters." 

It is remarkable that the English Church 
does not "lift," while the Episcopal Church 
of Scotland adheres to the practice. 

Dr. Gemmill was in many respects, a re- 
markable man. Having struggled through 
his college classes, more Scottico, he took 
charge of the little Secession Church at 
Dairy. The stipend promised, but seldom 
paid, was literally " forty pounds a year." 



64 STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 

To supplement the deficiency, he took up 
the study of medicine. For three sessions, 
he was accustomed to walk to Glasgow 
(25 miles) every Monday morning, attend 
his classes for the week, walk back on Sat- 
urday and preach twice on the Sabbath. 
At the close of his three years' course, 
her eceived his degree of M. D. with 
honors. 

He also picked up a knowledge of print- 
ing, and later established a small print- 
ing office at Beith, five miles from Dairy. 
Then came another course of Monday and 
Saturday walking, and Sabbath preaching. 
Besides commercial and legal work, his 
press issued much strong theology which 
was industriously circulated in the district. 
All would not do however, and after con- 
tinuing the struggle for thirty-four years 
and a half, he gave up his charge, and 
died in Canada, 23 years after. Verily, 
" there were giants in the earth, in those 
days." 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 65 

There is another matter of contention 
which may be noticed here. Should the 
communion be partaken of with the bare, 
or the gloved hand ? This controversy dates 
back to the second century. It was finally 
decided that the men should receive the 
sacrament with clean uncovered hands, 
while the women were required to bring a 
fair linen cloth in which the bread was 
deposited by the priest. These rules passed 
away when the custom was introduced of 
putting the wafer into the mouth of the 
communicant. 

I believe the matter is still somewhat 
unsettled among the Episcopalians. I know 
of no rubric or written law pertaining to it, 
though I find both practices supported by 
different individuals. It may be that the 
rule varies in the English and the American 
churches. The use of the bare hand seems 
to preponderate. 

As I have before remarked, there is no 
custom connected with the communion 



66 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

that has not been a fruitful source of con- 
troversy. The necessity for washing the 
feet of the communicants; the upper room; 
the evening celebration; the leavened or 
unleavened bread ; the fermented or un- 
fermented wine; these, and many other 
minor observances have all been argued 
and debated, again and again, to little pur- 
pose and less edification. 

Many usages which cannot be styled 
any thing but superstitions, have also at- 
tached themselves to the ordinance in dif- 
ferent ages of the Church. The consecrated 
elements have not always been treated with 
sacramental reverence.* The bread was 
sometimes abstracted for various improper 
or irreverent purposes. We find the mag- 
nates of the Church mingling the eucha- 
ristic wine with ink, so as to give special 
strength and validity to important docu- 
ments. 



Dicty. of Christ. Antiq. pp. 416, 417. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 67 

Theophanes, who wrote a history of the 
Church, from A. D. 277 to 81 r, tells how 
the Patriarch of Constantinople having re- 
nounced the heresy he had adopted, and 
again relapsed, was excommunicated by 
Pope Theodorus L, A. D., 645. The 
ink which signed his sentence was mixed 
with du sang de Jesus Christ. (" The 
blood of Jesus Christ.") The General 
Council of Constantinople, A. D. 869- 
870, condemned the doctrines of Photius, 
and the Patriarch Ignatius signed the 
decree, " dipping his stylus in the blood 
of the Saviour." {Dans le sang du 
Sauveur.) Claude Fleury, Hist. Eccl. 
Liv. 51. 

At one time there was a custom of 
placing the unconsecrated elements on 
the credence table, when the king was 
about to communicate. It was then 
the duty of a trusted official publicly 
to taste the bread and wine for fear 
they had been mixed with poison, and 



68 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

the monarch's life might thus be en- 
dangered.* 

Permit me here to offer my excuses for 
having, in these pages, strayed away so 
often from the Tokens proper, and taken 
up with other sacramental incidents. 

My research has led me into this class 
of reading and I have noted many collate- 
ral circumstances bearing on communion 
usages. Some of them may be as unfa- 
miliar to my readers as they were to me. 
I trust they will not be considered entirely 
out of place in connection with my main 
topic. 

A friend of mine owns a silver medal 
which is interesting for its sacramental 
devices. If it was meant to be used as a 
Token, it was probably not for members 
of the Church, but was given to a priest 
when on his travels, as an introduction to 
his brethren in orders. It is one of the 



* Notes and Queries^ July, 1856. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 69 

many allegorical and moral pieces struck 
by Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick and 
Luneburg. Its date is 1613, the year of 
Duke Henry's death. The chalice it is 
stamped with is almost identical with that 
on a Scotch Presbyterian Token of 1760. 

The Latin legend is decidedly anti-Prot- 
estant, Mirari Non Rimari, Sapientia Vera 
Est. The communicant is thus admonished 
that "to admire and not enquire, is the true 
wisdom." The cardinal doctrine of tran- 
substantiation is prominently brought 
before the devout participant, and he is 
taught to receive the great dogma of his 
Church in the most submissive spirit.* 

I have a silver coin of the city of Cologne 
1730, which bears on its obverse the arms 
of the city, with the legend Civit. Colon. 
(" City of Cologne.") On the reverse is a 
communion cup and the motto, Signum 
Senatori. This may mean the Senator's 



*I have lately acquired an excellent specimen of 
this medal, in bronze. 



70 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

Token, or Elder's Token. On the edge it 
reads Bibite Cum Laetitia. (" Drink ye with 
gladness.") 

The Augsburg Confession was formally 
presented to the Emperor Charles, June 
25th, 1530. This Cologne piece is one of 
those German anniversary coins so fre- 
quently met with. It was struck to com- 
memorate the second centennial of the 
famous confession. Its origin may be more 
properly civil than sacramental, though the 
words on the rim are virtually what I have 
heard a hundred times at the communion 
table in Scotland, " Eat, O friends ; drink, 
yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." (Cant, 
v: 1.) 

A writer in Notes and Queries, March 
1 4th, 1 874, states that the " liturgy drawn up 
for the Church of Scotland, circa 1635 (not 
later), has this rubric prefixed to the order 
for administration of Holy Commun- 
ion : — ' So many as intend to be partakers 
of the Holy Communion shall receive there 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 71 

Tokins (sic) from the minister the night 
before.' The style of this rubric shows 
clearly that the reference was to an estab- 
lished practice, not to an innovation. In 
a note to the first impression of this book* 
the editor states (it existed in manuscript 
till 187 1) : * The use of Tokens is men- 
tioned very soon after the Reformation, 
and it has ever since continued in the 
Church of Scotland. They have always 
been used too, in the Episcopal congrega- 
tions of old standing in the north of 
Scotland.'" 

To this I may add that some forty years 
ago they were brought into use in the prin- 
cipal (at that time I suppose the only) 
Roman Catholic Church in Glasgow." 

I believe it is still common among 
the fraternities of the Romish Church 
to present their members with a Token 



* This work was published in 1871, as " Scottish 
Liturgies of the Reign of James VI." Edited by 
Rev. Dr. Sprott. 



72 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

on the occasion of their first com- 
munion. 

The above writer goes on to speak of 
the jealousy existing between the different 
orders of the clergy, as to whose penitents 
should be admitted to communion, which 
necessitated the use of distinguishing 
marks, granted to those who were entitled 
to communicate. 

He also calls attention to the collection 
in the National Library at Paris, of what 
are termed "Abbey Tokens." These pieces 
are usually of lead or pewter, many of 
them stamped with the cross on one side 
and on the reverse with various other 
religious symbols. These Tokens are 
believed by antiquaries to have been given 
to " frequenters of the sacraments." 

I have a bronze piece which may be an 
Abbey Token, Obverse, a coat of arms 
with supporters. Reverse, Salut de Saint 
Pierre, 1733. ( u Salvation by St. Peter.") 
Another of my medals may belong in the 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 73 

same category. Obv., A very artistic head 
of Christ. Rev., Aimez-Vous Les Uns Les 
Autres. (" Love one Another "). A third 
piece shows an open hand with Wel- 
dcedigheyd Catechis7?ius. ( "Catechism Be- 
nevolence.") This last is perhaps a Bread 
Penny, given to the poor who came for 
catechetical instruction on Sundays. Such 
pieces could be exchanged for a loaf at the 
baker's shop. 

I have a great many ecclesiastical medals 
of whose history and significance I am 
totally ignorant. Others, I can only 
guess at. 

The Festival of Fools was observed in 
some places, as late as the seventeenth 
century. The Abbot of Misrule held 
sovereign sway and all the ceremonies of 
the Church were burlesqued in the 
most profane manner while the saturnalia 
lasted. 

That no detail might be omitted they 
even provided imitations of the Abbey 



74 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

Tokens, stamped with sacrilegious emblems 
and blasphemous mottoes. Specimens 
of these are still to be met with. 

Such may be some of the pieces which 
I own. Looked at in one way, you see 
the Sovereign Pontiff with his tiara. Turn 
the medal upside down and it shows the 
father of evil, grinning like a baboon. 
Ecclesia Perversa Tenet Faciem Diaboli. 
Or the staid ecclesiastic with his broad 
shovel-hat, reverses to the jabbering 
mountebank with his cap and bells. 
Sapientes Aliqtiando Stulti. 

In modern, as in ancient times, the 
use of Tokens has not been confined to 
religious organizations. Wherever the 
" discipline of the secret M was deemed 
necessary for the protection of mysti- 
cism, some sure and convenient form 
of Token was adopted. The Rosicrucians 
are supposed to have had appropriate 
symbols for distinguishing the hidden 
brethren. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 75 

In the lodges of Free Masonry, the 
Mark Master Mason of to-day selects a 
permanent device for his " Mark," which 
forthwith becomes substantially the same 
thing as the Tessera Hospitalis of the 
ancient Romans. 



VII. 

ANTIQUITY OF TOKENS. 

I have already referred to the Eleusin- 
ian and kindred mysteries, and the Tessercz 
which were given as vouchers to the 
{B7t07trai) fully initiated. These oath- 
bound brotherhoods are of the very high- 
est antiquity and seem to have preserved 
a knowledge of the great First Power, the 
one and invisible God, the creator, gov- 
ernor and preserver of all things. It 
appears to be perfectly certain that these 
glimmerings of divine truth first took an 
organized form in Central Asia, the cradle 
of the human race. As secret societies, 
they existed among the Egyptians long 
before the time of Moses. 

The doctrines they taught were highly 
esteemed and religiously studied by the 
philosophers of Greece. Their trans- 
mission to the same class among the 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 77 

Romans followed as a matter of course. 
They were still carefully shrouded in 
secrecy and held in profound veneration. 

It is quite true that, as the pagan 
mythology became more and more cor- 
rupt, the practices and teachings of the 
mysteries also degenerated. Still, the 
Christian Fathers did not always disdain 
to refer to them and to accord them a cer- 
tain measure of respect, as " marking 
rather the nature of things, than the 
nature of the Gods."* 

Eusebius, quoting from a contemporary, 
gives some explanation of their peculiar 
symbols. The enlightened members (illum- 
inati) believed that God, being the principle 
of light, dwelt in the midst of a fire so 
subtile that he must always be invisible to 
the eyes of those who are clogged with 
mortality. To all such, his most striking 
emblems were transparent substances, 



* M. Ouvaroff. Mysteries of Elensis. London, 
1817, p. 61. 



78 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

crystal, precious stones, ivory and parian 
marble. Gold was the chosen symbol of 
his purity, as gold cannot be permanently 
dimmed. A black stone was adopted as 
the sign of the invisibility of the divine 
essence.* 

These being the Tokens used by and 
between those " brethren of the mystic 
tie," they readily suggest the Urim and 
Thummim ("light and perfection ") of the 
Jewish high priest and the white stone 
promised as a mark of distinction by St. 
John in the Apocalypse. Then come 
the gems and tablets of precious metal 
used by the early believers, followed by 
the leaden Tokens of the Reformation 
Churches. 



*Ouvaroff, pp. 61, 62. 



VIII. 

TOKENS IN THE EARLY PROTESTANT 
RECORDS. 

The early Reformed Confessions make 
frequent use of the generic words for 
Communion Tokens {tesserae and mereaux) 
and invariably apply them to the sacra- 
ments of the Church. The First Helvetic 
Confession, 1536, states emphatically : — 
asserimus sacramenta non solum tesseras 
quozdam societatis Christiance, sed et gratiae 
divina symbola esse. (" We assert that the 
sacraments are not merely Tokens of 
Christian organizations, but they are also 
symbols of divine grace. ,, ) 

The French Confession of Faith, 1559, 
Art. 34, states: Nous croyons que les sacre- 
ments sont ajoutes a la Parole pour plus 
ample confirmation, afin de nous etre gages et 
marreaux de la grace de Dieu. (" We believe 
that the sacraments are joined to the Word 



80 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

for more complete confirmation, that they 
may be to us pledges and Tokens of the 
grace of God/') 

The Formula of Concord, compiled by 
the divines adhering to the Augsburg 
Confession, 1576, " rejects and condemns" 
the doctrine: Panem et vinutn in Coena 
Domini tantummodo symbola sen tesseras 
esse, quibus Christiani mutuo sese agnoscant. 
(" That the bread and wine in the Lord's 
Supper are merely symbols or Tokens by 
which Christians mutually recognize each 
other.") 

The French word marreau or mereau, is 
of considerable antiquity and has several 
varieties of spelling. A plausible deri- 
vation of the term is from the Latin 
verb mereri, " to deserve," as Tokens 
{rnereaux) were only given to those 
who were found worthy. The Augsburg 
Confession, 1530, speaking of the Com- 
munion, says : Nulli enim admittuntur, 
nisi antea explorati. ( " For none are 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 81 

admitted, except they are thoroughly 
examined beforehand.") 

Per contra: St. Andrews Kirk Session 
Records, October 25, 1565, notes the case 
of a priest who had conformed to the new 
order of things and afterwards returned to 
Popery. " The which day, John Morrison, 
after his recantation admitted reader in 
Muthil, delated and summoned by the 
superintendent's letters to underlie dis- 
cipline, for administration of baptism and 
marriage after the Papistical fashion, and 
that indifferently to all persons. And 
also for profanation of the Lord's 
Supper, abusing the same in private houses, 
as also in the kirkyard, about the kirk- 
yard dykes, and receiving from each per- 
son that communicated one penny. And 
in special upon Pasche day last was, in 
the house of John Graham, he adminis- 
tered it to one hundred persons." 

I give modern spelling of the above and 
the italics are mine. 



82 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

The First Book of Discipline was 
adopted by the General Assembly of the 
Kirk of Scotland in 156 1. The following 
extracts from it show how strongly the 
early Reformers insisted on the instruc- 
tion and intelligence of their commun- 
icants : 

"All ministers must be admonished to be 
more careful to instruct the ignorant than 
ready to satisfy their appetites, and more 
sharp in examination than indulgent, in 
admitting to that great mystery such as be 
ignorant of the use and virtue of the 
same : and therefore we think that the 
administration of the Table ought never 
to be, without that examination pass 
before, especially of those whose knowl- 
edge is suspect. We think that none are 
apt to be admitted to that mystery who 
cannot formally say the Lord's Prayer, the 
Articles of the Belief, and declare the sum 
of the Law. Every master of household 
must be commanded either to instruct, or 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 83 

else cause to be instructed, his children, 
servants and family in the principles of the 
Christian religion : without the knowledge 
whereof ought none to be admitted to the 
Table of the Lord Jesus: for such as be so 
dull and so ignorant that they can neither 
try themselves, neither yet know the 
dignity and mystery of that action, can 
not eat and drink of that Table worthily. 
And therefore of necessity we judge it, 
that every year at least, public examination 
be had by the ministers and elders of the 
knowledge of every person within the 
Church, to wit, that every master and mis- 
tress of household come themselves and 
their family, so many as may be come to 
maturity, before the ministers and elders, 
to give confession of their faith, and to 
answer to such chief points of religion as 
the ministers shall demand. Such as be 
ignorant in the Articles of their Faith, 
understand not, nor can not rehearse the 
Commandments of God; know not how to 



84 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

pray; neither whereinto their righteousness 
consists, ought not to be admitted to the 
Lord's Table."* 



* St. Andrews' Kirk Session Register, pp. 196, 
197. I have again modernized the spelling. 



IX. 



TOKENS IN FRANCE. 



In the annals of the French Huguenot 
Church, I find communion Tokens (mar- 
reaux) first mentioned in 1559. In the rec- 
ords of the Presbytery of Geneva, 1605, it is 
stated, " it would be an excellent thing 
that, according to the custom of the 
French churches, we should have Tokens." 
And again in 1613, " it would be proper to 
have Tokens both in the city and country 
churches."* 

The session record of Negrepelisse, 
April 21st, 1626, contains minute directions 
for the observance of the coming com- 
munion. Each Elder is designated by 



* Bulletin de la Socie'te de V Histoire du Protes- 
tantisme Franqais, 2e Annee. Paris, 1854, P- 1 3 et 
seq. 

Rev. Ch. L. Frossard, Numismatique Protestante, 
Paris, 1872, pp. 4, 5. 



86 STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 

name for his special duty, and Elder 
Lebrueys is detailed to take charge of the 
plate (or tray) for the Tokens. 

The Church Session of Melle, 1672, 
gives formal notice to all intending com- 
municants that they must procure Tokens 
in good season so as to avoid confusion at 
the sacramental tables, and directs the 
Elders to distribute Tokens to the members 
in their respective districts. 

Rev. Ch. L. Frossard of Paris, France, 
has published a description of forty-one 
Tokens used by the Reformed Commu- 
nion. The most artistic in design and 
execution appear to be the oldest. Judging 
from the style of workmanship, they prob- 
ably belong to the sixteenth century. 

Twelve of Mons. Frossard's Tokens bear 
dates ranging from 1761 to 1821. Some 
of the devices and legends are exceedingly 
suggestive. Ne crains point petit troupeau, 
(" Fear not little flock,") and Mes brebis 
entendent ma voix et me suivent, (" My 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 87 

sheep know my voice and follow me,") 
appear to be favorite mottoes on the older 
specimens and are singularly applicable to 
those "Churches of the Desert." The 
Token of the church of Celles-sur-Belle 
(Poitou) is noted as being still in use. 

My best endeavors have failed to secure 
a specimen of the pieces described by Rev. 
Mons. Frossard. The following is a copy 
of a card-Token sent to me as being now 
used by a French Protestant Church in 
Montreal. 

EGLISE PRESBYTERIEHHE St. JEAN. 

RUSSELL HALL, 1876, RUE STE. CATHERINE. 

Le service divin est celebre tous les Di- 
manches matins an heures et le soir a 7 
heures. 

Ecole du Dimanche et classe biblique 
tous les Dimanches a 3 heures. 

Reunion de prieres le mercredi soir a 
8 heures, precedee d'une repetition de 



88 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

chant sacre a laquelle tous les membres 
sont pries d'assister. 

TOUTES LES PLACES SONT LIBRES. 

Les membres non communiants qui de- 
sirent assister a la ceremonie de la Com- 
munion sont invites a prendre place dans 
les bancs de cote. 

REVERSE. 

M Rue 



Le conseil presbyteral de l'eglise St. Jean 
vous rappelle que le service de la Sainte 
Cene aura lieu a l'eglise St. Jean (Russell 
Hall), 1876, rue Ste. Catherine, le Diman- 

che 

a Tissue du service du 

et vous invite cordialement a y participer. 

Vous voudrez bien apporter la presente 
carte et la remettre a l'ancien qui la de- 
mandera avant la celebration du service de 
la Sainte Cene. 

The chalice, or communion cup, is a 
favorite device on sacramental Tokens. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 



89 




Thirty-one of Mons. Frossard's French 
Tokens are decorated with une coupe eic- 
charistique, and I have seen stray notices 
of several others. 

Many of the Scottish and Canadian 
Tokens bear the likeness of the sacred 
cup. One in my collec- 
tion from Dysart, Scot- 
land, 1804, is specially 
noteworthy. A dotted 
circle surrounds a cup 
having a broad foot, a short stem, a not 
very deep bowl, and a handle on each side. 
A tolerably fair model of the ministerial 
chalice used by the primitive Church. 

The preference for this emblem doubt- 
less dates back to the early part of the 
fifteenth century, when it was adopted as 
the badge of the Hussites. The " Com- 
munion of the Cup " became their watch- 
word, and the cup itself was blazoned on 
their banners. The eucharistic wine had 
been forbidden to the laity, and the Re- 



90 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

formers contended for the use of both the 
communion elements. As a name marking 
their belief, members of the new party were 
known as " Utraquists " (or u Calixtines ") 
and the term is still a familiar one in Bo- 
hemia and Moravia. 

Considering the importance of the cup, 
or rather of the consecrated wine, in the 
observance of the sacrament, this may be 
an appropriate place to introduce some 
items connected with its use in the sacred 
service. 

The Christian Church was scarcely es- 
tablished when a difference of opinion 
sprang up on this, as on almost all other 
doctrines and practices. Many insisted on 
using pure wine. The Armenian Church 
zealously contended for this, and still ad- 
here to it as an article of their faith. At the 
other extreme were a number of heretical 
sects, Aquarians, Hydroparastatae, Docetae, 
Ebionites, Tatianites, and others, who, on 
various pleas of ascetism and mysticism, 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 91 

used nothing but water in the Eucharistic 
celebration. 

The most common practice was to min- 
gle water with the wine. A variety of 
reasons was given for this. Some justified 
it by referring to real or supposed Jewish 
Passover customs. Others contended for 
it as a type of the blood of Jesus, shed on 
the cross when "blood and water" (John 
xix: 34) followed the thrust of the soldier's 
spear. 

The Byzantine Church poured boiling 
water into the wine as an emblem of the 
fervency of their faith. Some thought 
that red wine was the suitable token of 
the Redeemer's blood. Others contended 
for white wine as signifying the purity of 
the hope that was in them. 

We are too apt to think of the first cen- 
turies of Christianity as times of peace, 
and piety, and purity. The very opposite 
was the case. Enquiring minds (so called) 
were as fashionable then as now. The 



92 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

deadly heresies and mystical fantasies of 
those times find their exact counterparts 
in the empty agnosticism and vapid whim- 
sicalities which infest the Church of to-day. 
Many good Christian people who now come 
to the Lord's table, "strain out the gnat, and 
swallow the camel," (Matt. XXIIH24) just as 
some Church members did in the days of 
old. 

I find the mixed cup early referred to 
in the Episcopal Church. A rubric of 
Edward VI. provides the addition of "a 
little pure and clear water to the wine 
of the Communion." 

There is a curious direction given in the 
first Service Book of Edward VI. Some 
communicants were evidently inclined 
to drink from the chalice, instead of 
merely sipping the wine. The minister 
is enjoined to " give every one to drink 
once and no more." The reminder is 
strong of St. Paul's rebuke in 1 Cor. 
xi : 21. 



STORY Oi THE TOKEN. 93 

That there was abundant reason for this 
restrictive warning is very evident from 
the complaints made by devout ecclesias- 
tics as to the behaviour of communicants. 
After the laity were debarred from the 
sacramental wine, it would seem as if a 
compromise had been introduced so as to 
reconcile them to the innovation. After 
the celebration of the Mass, a sort of imi- 
tation of the love-feasts of the early Church 
was permitted. In 1325, the Archbishop 
of Canterbury complains bitterly that, after 
the Easter communion, " unconsecrated 
oblations and wine were given them in the 
Church, where they sit, and eat and drink, 
as they would in taverns."* Many appear 
to have come as of old, simply for the 
loaves and fishes. 

In the accounts of the diocese of Dur- 
ham there are repeated charges (1370 to 
1387) for communion wine in large quan 



* Notes and Queries. Jan., 1856. 



94 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

titles. The smallest amount quoted is at 
Monk-Wearmouth, 1380. In vino empto 
pro celebracione et communione parochiano- 
rum, ''five shillings and four pence ."* With 
wine at four pence a gallon, this must have 
furnished fair refreshment for a small 
parish. 

Tokens were evidently much used in 
France. I find them frequently referred 
to in the Bulletin of the French Protestant 
Historical Society. The volume for 1853 
contains a long extract from the Transac- 
tions of the Antiquarian Society of Mori- 
nie, 1834. The article is written by M. 
Alex. Hermand, who seems to be a Roman 
Catholic author, and a man of considerable 
learning. He dwells much on the anti- 
quity of the term, and does not hesitate 
to affirm that Tokens (mereaux) were used 
for many purposes prior to the twelfth cen- 
tury. The material of these Tokens varied 



* Notes and Queries, Nov., 1855. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 95 

greatly. They were made of paper, paste- 
board, wax, leather, glass, and at last were 
generally made of lead or brass. 

Like the Roman tesserce, they sometimes 
had a representative, but not an intrinsic 
value. A purse full of mereaux was no 
better than an empty purse. 

" States, provinces, municipalities, cor- 
porations, fraternities, cathedral chapters, 
and every kind of organization had their 
appropriate Tokens. In short, they were 
used as tickets or Tokens of admission, 
or as certificates of brotherhood at convoca- 
tions of every kind. At sheriff-courts, 
synods, conferences of communities and 
abbeys, free-masons' lodges, etc. All cor- 
porate organizations used them, and even 
in the Protestant churches they were dis- 
tributed to those who desired admission to 
the communion." 

In this Historical Society magazine, To- 
kens are often mentioned as a ready and 
necessary means of protection and disci- 



96 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

pline. In some cases a special church re- 
gister was kept and the name of each 
member recorded, who asked admission 
to the communion. There are frequent 
glimpses of the power of government and 
the firm rule exercised by the church ses- 
sions of those early days. 

I find the same migration of Tokens 
which has been already spoken of as exist- 
ing in Scotland and Canada, resulting from 
the same causes. This was the means of 
introducing Tokens among the German 
Reformed Churches bordering on France. 

One very characteristic incident is nar- 
rated at great length. In 1584, a lady of 
rank, attached to the Court of Navarre, 
Madame du Plessis-Mornay, made a long 
visit for rest and recreation, to Montau- 
ban, then as now, a stronghold of Protest- 
antism. In her new home she came into 
determined conflict with Mons. Besault, 
the pastor of the Church. The National 
Synod had prescribed strict rules as to the 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 97 

plainness of dress and personal adornment 
of church members. In consequence of these 
regulations, Mons. Berault debarred from 
the Holy Supper all those women who 
" parted their hair." Madame de Mornay, 
with her court fashions, fell under the ban 
and was forbidden to commune. Her 
husband sent the pastor a written list of the 
communicants in his household and 
requested Tokens (niereaux) for them. 
Mons. Berault returned for answer that 
"he had trouble enough with his own 
flock." The Madame, with her children 
and servants, appeared at the pastor's pre- 
liminary catechizing and were promptly 
boycotted. He would not even acknowl- 
edge the presence of the men-servants " who 
were not subject to any rule about their 
hair." 

Session, Presbytery, and Synod were 
invoked in turn. Decisions were given in 
favor of Madame as being a stranger and 
not subject to local restrictions, but the 



98 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

zealous clergyman contrived to evade their 
edicts and exclude the lady. She at last 
found a more considerate pastor in a 
neighboring village, where she and her 
family were welcomed to communion. All 
the attendant circumstances are narrated 
in full detail and form a striking picture of 
early church discipline.* 



* Bulletin de la Societe de VHistoire du Proteslan- 
tisme FranQais. ire annee, pp. 487-514. 



X. 

TOKENS IN HOLLAND. 

I have discovered that the use of Tokens 
was at one time common in Holland, and 
it may still exist there. I have two Tokens 
of different types (mentioned by Rev. Mons. 
Frossard), from the Walloon Church at 
Amsterdam, both dated 1586, and which 
were used there till 1828. 

What is known as the Walloon Church 
was originally composed of Flemish and 
French refugees, chiefly the latter. French 
pastors were in charge and doubtless intro- 
duced Tokens and other French customs. 
During the persecution in Britain, under 
the Stuarts, many of the Non-conformists 
took refuge in Holland. There were 
Scotch churches in Amsterdam, Leyden, 
and other principal cities. Many eminent 
ministers were in charge of them and must 
have used their own forms of worship. 




100 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

I have several other Tokens and Bread- 
Pennies from Amsterdam and Rotterdam. 
The dates are from 1707 to 1861. Some 

of them are said to 
be from Lutheran 
churches. Two, of 
1764 and 1 786, bear 
the same devices 
and legends, but 
are of very differ- 
ent types. On one side is the crown of 
thorns with palm branches, and on the 
other, a swan. The mottoes are, Regnum 
Christi, and, Perennis Candor e. 

In ancient times, the Swan was wel- 
comed by sailors as a sure presage of 
smooth seas and safety. Nunquam mergit 
in undis. (" No storm could overwhelm 

it.") 

The swan, or references thereto, appears 
so frequently on Luther's numerous medals, 
that it may be called his attribute. The 
reason for this is as follows : 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 101 

When John Hus was about to be led to 
the stake, at Constance, July 6th, 1415, he 
said to his judges: " For this, in one 
hundred years, ye shall answer to God, and 
to me." 

What may be termed the official date of 
Luther's Reformation is usually given as 
October 31st, 15 17, a century after the 
death of Hus. 

The name " Hus " is the Bohemian word 
for goose. As he was being bound to the 
stake he said to those around : " Ye may 
burn this goose (Hus), but from its ashes 
will rise hereafter a swan whose singing ye 
shall not be able to silence." 

It is usually believed that both these 
prophetic utterances were fulfilled in the 
great Reformer, and the allusions to them 
on Luther's medals are frequent. I have 
an old silver medal with the bust of Hus 
on one side and that of Luther on the 
other. Around the latter is this legend : 
Was Iene Gans Gedacht Dat Diser Schivan 



102 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

Vollbracht. A modern medal of Luther, 
in my collection, has a figure of Hus at the 
stake, and reads : Jetzt Bratet Ihr Eine 
Gans. Nach Hundert Jahren Kommt 
Ein Schwan Den Werdet Ihr Ungebraten 
Lan. I have another old Hus medal with, 
Centum Revolutis Annis Deo Respondebitis 
et Mihi. 

In spite of this well-known connection 
between Luther and the swan, I have not 
succeeded in connecting my swan Tokens 
with the Lutheran Church. All the Luth- 
eran authorities I have consulted disclaim 
any affinity with the Communion Token, 
as being foreign to their usages and 
traditions. 

Like the Roman Catholic Church, their 
altars are understood to be open to all 
worshippers without restriction. At the 
same time, I find every church exercising 
an oversight as to the personality of its 
communicants. The details vary some- 
what in different countries and I do not 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 103 

think they are quite uniform, even in the 
same country. I find some clergymen 
insist on previous notice from intending 
communicants, so that only the requisite 
number of wafers may be consecrated. 
Others follow a more or less elaborate 
system of day-book and ledger accounts, 
and thus keep themselves informed of the 
faithfulness of each church member. 

I have a Lutheran sacramental wafer, 
stamped with the figure of Christ on the 
cross and the letters " I. N. R. I." (Jehsus 
Nazarenus Rex JudcEorum.) 

I have two copper Tokens without date 
which are of the same pattern, though one 
is of much ruder workmanship than the 
other. In the centre is a pelican feeding her 
her young. The legend is, Sigil. Eccle. Fless. 
("Seal of the Church of Flushing.") The 
ancient fable of the pelican tearing her own 
breast and feeding her young with the blood 
is one of the oldest emblems of Christ, who 
shed his blood for his children, and gave 



104 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

himself for the redemption of mankind. 
" I am like a pelican of the wilderness," 
(Ps. en: 6) was understood to be prophet- 
ically spoken of the Messiah and to exem- 
plify the love he bears to his people, feed- 
ing and caring for them in the wilderness 
of this world. In an old book of emblems 
the pelican is shown surrounded by her 
hungry brood. The lesson is enforced by 
the couplet: 

"Our Pelican, by bleeding thus, 
Fulfilled the Law, and cured us."* 

The following stray lines (I know not 
from what source) quaintly set forth the 
popular recognition of the symbol: 

Ut pelicanus fit matris sanguine sanus, sic 
genus humanum fit Christi sanguine sanus. 
(" As the pelican is revived by its mother's 
blood, so are all mankind restored to life 
by the blood of Christ.") 



*George Wither, A collection of emblemes (sic) 
quickened with metrical illustrations, London, 1634. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 105 

Shakespeare does not omit to take 
notice of this current belief. Laertes 
threatens the direst vengeance against the 
murderers of his father, and in the same 
breath promises — 

" To his good friends thus wide I'll ope 

my arms, 
And, like the kind life-rendering pelican, 
Repast them with my blood." 

Hamlet, act iv, scene 5. 

These Tokens were sent to me as coming 
from the Lutheran Church of Flushing, 
Holland. It seems more probable that 
they should belong to the Walloon Church. 



XI. 

TOKENS USED BY THE UNITED BRETHREN. 

I have a very handsome card Token 
which is used in the Church of the United 
Brethren (Unitas Fratruni) at Bethlehem, 
Pa. The use of such cards was, at one 
time, the general custom of their Church. 
Previous to the sacramental season, all 
members were examined by the minister, 
as to their spiritual condition. If the 
interview {Das Sprechen) was satisfactory, 
each received a card with his name written 
thereon. Before the communion these 
cards were collected by the officers of the 
Church. The object being, as with every 
other Church exercising due watchfulness, 
to insure worthy participation in the 
ordinance. 

I have two Tokens that were used for 
many years by a mission church belonging 
to these Brethren, in the Island of Santa 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 107 

Cruz, Danish West Indies. One is an 
octagonal piece of copper, which was 
given to the intending participants, on the 
Sabbath before the communion, provided 
they successfully passed the ordeal of the 
church officers at the " preparation meet- 
ing." This Token was presented to the 
pastor during the intervening week at " the 
speaking." If he also was satisfied as to 
the spiritual fitness of the applicant, the 
copper piece was exchanged for a mahog- 
any Token. This is the real admission 
ticket, and is taken up at the " love feast " 
which, in this church, precedes the cele- 
bration of the Lord's Supper. Both of 
these Tokens are stamped with the letters 
u F. B.," signifying Friedens Berg, or 
" Mountain of Peace," the name of the 
mission station on this island. These 
Tokens were for many years, generally used 
in that part of the world. They are now 
fast disappearing. The present minister 
(Rev. A. B. Romig) believes that his con- 



108 STOBY OF THE TOKEN. 

gregation is the only one still using them 
in the West Indies.* 

The United Brethren were formerly 
accustomed to appeal to "the lot" for 
direction in their church work, and even 
in some circumstances of their daily life. 
Traces of this custom still remain, and 
the practice is founded upon such texts as 
Prov. xvi : 2>2> : "The lot is cast into the 
lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of 
the Lord." And Acts i: 26: "And they 
gave forth their lots, and the lot fell upon 
Matthias." 

One of their clergymenf writes to me that 
about a century ago, no matter how satis- 
factory the preliminary interviews had 
been, a final appeal was made to the lot. 
If that decided against the member, he 
refrained from going forward to the cora- 



*I learn that this Church, not many years ago, 
used a metal Token in the Island of Antigua, West 
Indies. I have not succeeded in adding a specimen 
to my collection. 

f Rev. Edwin J. Reinke, Grace Hill, Iowa. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 



109 



munion. We may smile at this manner 
of reaching a decision, but it is a striking 
example of the trust and simplicity that 
characterized this Church, which pre- 
eminently walked " by faith, not by sight." 
St. Thomas, another of the Danish West 
India Islands, has a Reformed Dutch 
Church which used a Token, up to a very 
recent date. It is an oval' pewter Token, 
of a type very common in Scotland and 
Canada. It is inscribed " Communion 
Token, Reformed 



Dutch Church, St. 
Thomas." On the 
reverse are the oft- 
repeated texts, "But 
Let a Man Examine Himself," and " This 
Do In Remembrance of Me." The custom 
is now discontinued. 

This is the only instance I have been 
able to discover of the use of Tokens by 
the Dutch or German Reformed Churches 
in America. A Scotch minister who was 




110 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

in charge at St. Thomas, several years 
ago, is probably responsible for its intro- 
duction. 

Tokens are also to be found at the Anti- 
podes. Wherever the Scotch Presbyterian 
colonist established himself, his church, his 
school, and all their distinctive belongings, 
readily obtained " a local habitation and a 
name." 

In Australia and New Zealand the old 
formality is still practised. 

I have two handsome Tokens of precise- 
ly the same type and device. They both 
read, "Presbyterian Church, Otago, N. Z." 
The reverse has the same familiar texts 
that are met with on older specimens, near- 
er home, — "The Lord Knoweth Them That 
Are His," &c. They bear, respectively, the 
church names of "Kaihiku" and "Warepa." 
The time has come which the prophet saw 
afar off, when "the isles shall wait for His 
law," when there shall be heard "his praise 
from the end of the earth, — th^ isles and 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. Ill 

the inhabitants thereof." (Isa. xlii : 4- 
10.) The emigrant to the waste places 
of New Zealand has carried with him 
the Church of his fathers and all its 
customs. 

I have a neat nickel Token from Cres- 
wick, Victoria, Australia, with the familiar 
and suggestive texts, " But Let a Man 
Examine Himself," and "This Do In 
Remembrance of Me." 

Even in that far-off country, the spirit of 
change is abroad. The new-fangled card 
is driving out the antique disc of metal. 
I have a card, " Token of Admission to 
the Lord's Table," with appropriate quota- 
tions from Luke and Corinthians. This 
comes from Erskine Church, Carlton, 
Victoria, Australia. 



XII. 

EARLY USE OF TOKENS IN SCOTLAND. 

The fathers of the Reformation were, 
above all things, conservative men. A 
Church fashioned in every respect on the 
apostolic model, was the ideal which they 
sought to establish. As they particularly 
avoided the use of novelties in all the 
details of church service, it is far more 
likely that they adopted a custom already 
hallowed by primitive usage, than that they 
were led to introduce an innovation of 
their own. 

The Token practice seems to have 
struck its roots deepest into Scottish soil, 
and there it became universally adopted. 

The first meeting of the General Assem- 
bly of the Church of Scotland was held 
in Edinburgh, December 20, 1560, and 
that year the Reformation was recognized 
as an accomplished fact. Tokens were 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 113 

already in use, for in the Records of 
St. Andrews' Kirk Session, May 2d, 1560, 
there is mention of a person who refused 
"ane tecket." In the municipal records 
of Edinburgh, 1578, there is a charge 
made for "tikkets," and another for 
"stamping of thame,' , by one of the city 
goldsmiths. 

Mr. R. W. Cochran-Patrick of Beith, 
gives an account of his Token researches. 
His oldest date on a Token is 1622. 
He adds, " probably some of the un- 
dated ones are earlier." The first rec- 
ord he has discovered of the use of 
metal Tokens is in Edinburgh, 1574, 
though they may have been used in St. 
Andrews, a year or two before that 
date. 

He concludes his remarks with : "Leaden 
counters were used in the Catholic churches 
before the Reformation. I have some in 
my collection with emblems on them which 
could hardly have been in use in the Pres- 



114 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

byterian Church, in the 17th or 18th cen- 
tury."* 

In the Session Records of South Leith, 
Tokens are first referred to September 
18th, 1613. The Elders are designated 
by name for their respective duties and 
six Elders are appointed " for ye Tickets." 
April 15th, 1614, six Elders are again 
named " for ye resaiueing (receiving) of 
ye Tickets." 

John Spalding, in his Troubles and Me- 
morable Transactions in Scotland and Eng- 
land, f giving an account of the General 
Assembly that was convened at Glasgow, 
November 21st, 1638, makes an incidental 
reference to the practice. "Within the said 
church, the Assembly thereafter sitts doun. 
The church doors was straitly guarded by 
the toun. None had entrance, but he who 



* Notes and Queries^ June 28, 1879. 

f Me??iorialls of the Trubbles, published by the 
Spalding Club. Aberdeen, 1850. 2 Vols. Vol. I, 
p. 117. 



STORY OF THE TOREK 115 

had ane Tokin of lead, declareing that he 
was ane Covenanter."* 

This seems exactly like a repetition of 
the Roman use of the Token as a Tessera 
Militarise on which the soldier's watch- 
word was engraved, and without which, 
no one was permitted to pass. 

The St. Andrews' Kirk Session Register, 
1559 to 1582,1 lately published by the 
Scottish History Society, contains much 
curious sacramental information. The use 
of the Tokens is constantly spoken of as a 
common and well established practice. 

May 2nd, 1560, Walter Adie is brought 
before the Session and charged with having 
contemptuously rejected " ane tecket " 
proffered to him by William Mayne, one 
of the elders. \ Wednesday, May 7th, 1572, 



* (Original spelling) : — " The churche durris was 
straitlie gardit by the toune, none had entress bot 
he who had ane taikin of leid, declairing he wes ane 
covenanter. 

\Si. Andrews Kirk Session Register, i^^g-1^82, 
Edinburgh, 1889. 

% Ibid. p. 34, 



116 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

there is a decree of the Session against 
those who present themselves at commu- 
nion without Tokens. I copy the edict 
verbatim and modernize the spelling. "The 
which day the seat (Session) has ordained 
that in time coming, none shall present 
themselves to the communion without 
tickets received from the clerk of the 
quarter where they dwell, or minister. And 
who that does the contrary shall make pub- 
lic satisfaction, and upon their knees ask 
God's and the congregation's forgiveness/'* 

June 3d, 1573, this very emphatic ordi- 
nance is supplemented as follows : — " The 
said day, it is decreed by the Session that 
the Act made in their books, regarding 
them that present themselves to the com- 
munion without tickets, or with counter- 
feit tickets, of the date of May 7th, 1572, 
be put in execution. "f 

In 1659, nearly a century after this, I 



* Ibid. pp. 365, 366. 
\Ibid. p. 379. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 117 

find the Presbytery of St. Andrews passing 
a resolution of similar import. " The 
Presbytery considdering the great scandall 
committed by such quho having Tokens 
allowed to them for receiving the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper, doe not make 
use thereof, bot give them to such as are 
not allowed by the Minister and Session to 
that ordinance, upon good grounds, doe 
appoint both the parties, in such cases, to 
be publicklie rebuiked."* 

This offence of receiving Tokens, as it 
were under false pretences, and then giv- 
ing them to unworthy persons who could 
not themselves obtain them, was a frequent- 
ly recurring scandal and grievance through- 
out the churches. So disreputable was it 
considered to be debarred from the crown- 
ing sacrament of the church, that many 
devices to obtain admission were resorted 
to, besides the one just mentioned. 



* St. Andrews' Session Records. Life and Work, 
Edinburgh. April, 1888. p. 61. 



118 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

Two cases of discipline were acted upon 
by the Session of Mauchline, where the 
parties had endeavored to deceive the El- 
der by dropping a small coin into his hand. 

In 1646, two members were cited to ap- 
pear before the Presbytery of Lanark, " for 
stealing the communion in the Church of 
Carmichael." In 1647, the session of Gals- 
ton, Ayrshire, censured a man for " giving 
a ticket to a strange unknown woman, to 
whom the minister refused a ticket for 
manifold reasons." The woman was also 
subjected to discipline for receiving and 
making use of the Token.* 

From these dates onward I find the 
tickets, or Tokens constantly mentioned. 
Their use was evidently an established 
adjunct of the observance of the sacra- 
ment. 



* Scottish National Memorials. Edited by James 
Paton. Glasgow, 1890. p. 343. 



XIII. 

GENERAL USE OF TOKENS IN SCOTLAND. 

The religious gatherings to which the 
Tokens pertained became completely inter- 
woven with the daily life of the people and 
were looked upon as a devout recreation. 
As a proof of this I find that in England, 
when farm servants were being hired they 
stipulated for time to enjoy the diversions 
of so many wakes and fairs during the 
year. On the north side of the Tweed, the 
Scotch ploughman or dairymaid bargained 
for permission to attend the neighboring 
sacraments. Sometimes a lukewarm appli- 
cant agreed for " one sacrament or two 
fairs," as might be most convenient for the 
employer. This plainly indicates the rela- 
tive importance attached to the respective 
holidays.* 



* Peter s Letters to his Kinsfolk. Anon. (John 
Gibson Lockhart.) Edinburgh, 1819. pp. 301-321. 



120 STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 

Several items which I have gleaned in 
the course of my reading may not be out 
of place here, as illustrations of the growth 
and prevalence of the venerable custom, 
and of sacramental usages in general. 

In session records, the words " Tickets" 
and " Tokens " are used interchangeably, 
according to the fancy of the clerk. 
Written cards and metal Tokens are met 
with in the same Church and at the same 
time. 

In 1590, the Session of St. Andrews paid 
for the Token-moulds and 2,000 Tokens. 
In May, 1596, this session decrees, " that 
no person hereafter shall write tickets to the 
communion, nor yet present tickets here- 
after, but such as the session shall ordain 
to that effect, under pain of public admo- 
nition and repentance. " In February, 1600, 
it is further enacted u that every ticket bear 
the person's name and the examiner's 



* St. Andrews' Kirk Session Register. 1582-1600. 
Edinburgh, 1890, pp. 818, 920. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 121 

In 1673, the Session of Galston decided 
" to give to the Elder of each quarter, a 
certified list of all the communicants within 
his district, and as many tickets as there 
were names upon his list." In 1735, tne 
Session of Mauchline met after sermon on 
the Fast-day, and " the Elders received 
Tokens to distribute to their respective 
quarters/'* 

These are exactly the methods now pur- 
sued by the churches who use cards. A 
regular account is kept with each person, 
and it can be told at a glance if members 
are careless in their attendance at com- 
munion. 

There are frequent intimations that tick- 
ets were also made of metal. In the expense 
account of the Church of Dumbarton, 1620, 
there is a charge, "For three pounds of 
lead to be tickets to the communicants, 6 
shillings." (Edgar, p. 314.) 

Returning to the St. Andrews Register, 

* Edgar's Old Church Life, pp. 134-135. 



122 STORY OF THE TOREK 

the following sacramental references are 
noted. July, 1583, one man is sharply 
rebuked for offering a counterfeit ticket 
at the Lord's Table, and another who had 
not been at examination, and had not 
received a ticket, tried to pass with his 
employer's ticket, but found himself in 
the grasp of the church law. (p. 505.) 

November, 1583, Alexander Sharp, 
baker, presents a bill of ^5 os. 8d., " for 
seven year's bread bygone, furnished by 
him to the communion." This does not 
speak well for the business habits of the 
session, (p. 513.) 

May, 1595, a contumacious woman is 
made to appear publicly in church and "ask 
God and the congregation forgiveness 
for not coming to communion and refus- 
ing to be reconciled to her neighbor." 

(P. 797.) 

July, 1598, arrangements are made for 
the communion, and special Elders are 
detailed " to labor for taking away of all 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 123 

offences and feuds among the neighbors of 
this city, for the better humiliation of the 
people and preparing of them to the said 
holy work." And again, in March, 1599, 
the session " ordained all the feuds and 
offences among the neighbors of this city 
to be taken away and agreed • — whosoever 
refuses and absents themselves from that 
holy table, to be punished therefor : — 
wilful refusers to communicate, shall be 
excommunicated/' To which is added, 
"no tickets shall be given to such persons 
as have not paid their part of the contri- 
bution to the poor." (pp. 861, 884.) This 
preliminary duty is frequently insisted on. 
(pp. 845, 884, 906.) 

October, 1595 :— " It is statute that no 
person be admitted to the communion, but 
such as confess the truth with us, and sub- 
tracts not themselves from preaching and 
catechizing ; and that can say the Lord 
his Prayer and Ten Commandments, and 
that can answer to the questions of the 



124 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

Little Catechism ; and that be sixteen years 
of age." (p. 809.) 

April, 1596, minute details are specified 
for the communion. The tickets are to be 
written and subscribed by the clerk, and 
countersigned by the ministers. The 
Elders are designated by name for their 
respective duties. Four Elders are ''to 
stand at the little kirk door, to receive and 
try the tickets, and none to enter but at 
that door." (p. 815.) 

July, 1598, special directions are again 
given for the coming celebration. " Upon 
the next Sabbath the morning preaching 
to begin at five hours, and such as hear that 
preaching shall then communicate only; 
and to that effect the doors to be locked 
at the ending of the Psalm ; William 
Moffat and Andrew Watson are appointed 
to collect the tickets." (p. 862.) 

At Galston, 1634, a man had to make 
public repentance and pay a fine of ten 
shillings for giving away his Token. In 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 125 

1673, the same Session records that " sev- 
eral hundreds of tickets are distributed 
among strangers with sufficient testimonials 
from several places." (Edgar, pp. 239, 

173.) 

I have already mentioned a troublesome 

incident at Mauchline, in 1771. As I hap- 
pen to own the Token in use there at that 
time, I give the circumstances at length. 
The Token is round, thin, and 
about the size of an English 
sixpence. A young lad going 
forward to his first com- 
munion, excited and oblivi- 
ous of minor matters, handed the Elder a 
sixpence. This was a heinous offence. The 
boy was promptly summoned before the 
session and called to account. He expressed 
great sorrow, all the more no doubt because 
he had nearly lost his sixpence. It was 
easy for him to show that he meant no dis- 
respect to the ordinance, but that did not 
save him from being formally rebuked for 




126 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

his irreverent heedlessness, and admonish- 
ed to be more careful in time to come. 
(Edgar, 202.) 

Rev. John Semple of Carsphairn, Kirk- 
cudbrightshire, was a kind of John-the- 
Baptist Covenanter. Bold, fearless and 
devout, " All men counted him that he 
was a prophet indeed/' The following 
anecdote {circa, 1650) is recorded of him : 
" Upon a certain time, when a neighboring 
minister was distributing Tokens before 
the sacrament, and was reaching a Token 
to a certain woman, Mr. Semple (standing 
by) said, ' hold your hand, she hath gotten 
too many Tokens already ; she is a witch ;' 
which, though none suspected her then, 
she herself confessed to be true."* 

In Dr. McCrie's Story of the Scottish 
Church, is a very picturesque account of a 
moorland communion among the hills of 
Teviotdale, during the persecution circa 



*John Howie, Scot's Worthies. Edinburgh, 
1870, p. 380. 



STOBT OF THE TOKEN. 127 

1670. The people gathered on the banks 
of the Whittader. The men were more or 
less armed, as the enemy had threatened to 
break up the solemnity, " and trample the 
sacred elements under foot." Some hun- 
dred and fifty or more horsemen were 
stationed as pickets and sentinels to guard 
against a surprise. 

From Saturday morning till Monday 
evening the services were continued with- 
out interruption. Five ministers officiated 
and all the usual formalities were gone 
through with. Sixteen tables were served 
and 3,200 persons communicated that day. 
" None were admitted without Tokens as 
usual, which were distributed on the Sat- 
urday, but only to such as were known to 
some of the ministers, or persons of trust, 
to be free of public scandals."* 

Rev. Robert Wodrow, of Eastwood, Ren- 



*Rev. Thomas McCrie, D.D., LL.D. The Story 
of the Scottish Church, Edinburgh. 1875. pp. 307- 
310. 



128 STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 

frewshire, that most industrious historian 
and biographer, gives us in his Analecia, the 
following Token item which occurred at 
his own communion, in 171 1. " Two or 
three English soldiers presented themselves 
at that communion, and one of them came 
forward without a Token. He happened 
to be seated near the upper end of the 
table, within whispering reach of Wodrow 
himself, who seeing that he had no Token, 
desired him to come out to the church 
yard, where he asked him why he had 
presumed to seat himself at the Lord's 
table without a Token of admission. ' In 
my native country,' replied the soldier, 
6 there is no such custom as you refer to, 
and if I have given offense it was not of 
intention, but in ignorance of Scottish 
ways.' Wodrow then examined him, and, 
being well satisfied with his answers, gave 
him a Token, and told him he might go 
forward to the next table."* 



* Scottish National Memorials. Glasgow. 1890. 
P. 343- 



STORY OF THE TOREK 129 

In 1727, the following entry occurs in 
the church book of Ettrick, Selkirkshire. 
" The Session met to distribute Tokens, 
but finding that a horse-race was to come 
off before Communion Sabbath, forbade 
any member to attend and decided to hold 
over the Tokens till after the race." 

Forfar Session records tell of a man who 
was compelled to return his Token to the 
Elder, because he had been absent from 
Church on one of the days of prepara- 
tion. 

In Dr. Samuel Johnson's celebrated 
Tour to the Hebrides, 1773, we read of a 
visit he paid to the Rev. Kenneth McAu- 
lay, at Cawdor, Invernessshire. Boswell 
tells that, " Mrs. McAulay received us, and 
told us her husband was at the Church dis- 
tributing Tokens. We arrived between 
twelve and one o'clock and it was near 
three before he came to us." Boswell fur- 
ther adds in a foot-note, " In Scotland there 
is a great deal of preparation before ad- 



130 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

ministering the sacrament. The minister 
of the parish examines the people as to 
their fitness, and to those whom he ap- 
proves, gives little pieces of tin, stamped 
with the name of the parish, as Tokens, 
which they must produce before receiving it. 
This is a species of priestly power, and 
sometimes may be abused. I remember a 
law suit brought by a person against his 
parish minister, for refusing him admis- 
sion to that sacred ordinance."* 

Dr. Jamieson {Scottish Dictio?iary) takes 
notice of the mistake made in ascribing so 
much power to the minister, who only co- 
operates with his elders in maintaining dis- 
cipline. Boswell, though a Scotsman, was 
an Episcopalian, which probably accounts 
for his note being deficient in clear and 
exact description. 

The fact is that the very reverse of Bos- 
well's statement is correct. When the 



* Croker's Boswell. New York, i860, p. 361. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 1S1 

minister and elders gathered by the pul- 
pit to distribute the Tokens, the first thing 
done was to constitute the Session by the 
opening prayer. All doubtful cases were 
thus decided, not by the minister alone, 
but by the Session, as the lawfully organized 
Church Court. As has been already noted, 
the opposite rule prevails in the Episcopal 
Church, where the officiating clergyman 
both possesses and exercises the power of 
excluding all those who, in his judgment, 
are "evil-livers," or who "remain obstinate 
in their frowardness and malice," toward 
their neighbors. He is, of course, required 
to report all such cases to the bishop, or 
his deputy, for approval. 

In the " Annals of the Old School 
Church," by the Rev. David Scott, of Salt- 
coats, Scotland, there are several instances 
where discipline and tokens are mentioned 
together.* The following examples are 



*Rev. David Scott. Annals and Statistics of the 
Original Secession Church. Edinburgh. 1886. 



132 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

from the Session records of an Edinburgh 
church. 

October 5, 1800: Two members were cen- 
sured for walking in a Masonic procession. 
November 3, 1800 : One of them professed 
his penitence before the Session, was re- 
buked by the Moderator and served with a 
Token.* 

May 8, 1834, being the Fast-day, A — 
was reported to the Session as having been 
seen leaving town by the railway. He after- 
wards stated that he went to see a friend 
who had lately met with an accident. Ad- 
ding that " he left it with the Session to 
give or withhold a Token as they saw 
cause." His excuse was not accepted and 
he was refused his Token. f 

October 5, 1835: B and his wife 

were reported as living " on no very 
amiable terms," and were refused Tokens. 
Before next communion they promised to 



* Ibid. pp. 447-448. 
t Ibid. p. 451. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 133 

" forget their quarrels and live in har- 
mony." They were granted their Tokens 
accordingly.* 

These extracts all tend to show how 
thoroughly incorporated the Tokens had 
become with the religious observances of 
the people and what stress was laid on 
their proper and reverent use. 



* Ibid. p. 453. 



XIV. 

TOKENS AS CONNECTED WITH THE LORD'S 
SUPPER. 

We now live in the era of new practices 
and new fashions. Some of us who can 
recollect the old styles, look back upon 
them with regret. We all remember them 
with feelings of deep interest. The 
lengthy communion services may have 
been at times, a weariness to the flesh. 
Still, I delight to recall my boyish remi- 
niscences of the solemn and suggestive 
ceremonies. 

How intently I used to watch the dis- 
tribution of the Tokens. There were 
floating traditions of applicants who had 
been refused. Such-a-one had quarrelled 
with a neighbor. Such-another-one had 
come home from the fair with more than 
he could well carry. Some for one reason, 



STORY OF THE TOKEN, 135 

some for another, had been debarred from 
approaching the holy ordinance. Would 
such a case happen to-day ? 

There went one person who fell short of 
my juvenile standard of perfection. Would 
he dare to ask for a Token ? Would he 
get one if he did ? 

And then, on the Sabbath, how curiously 
I observed the Elders going their rounds. 
Would they find anyone without a Token? 
If so, what would happen ? Would the 
" minister's man " be called upon to lead 
the offender out by the collar ? Might it 
not even come to a case before the Fiscal, 
or the " Shirra," with thirty days in jail at 
the end of it ? 

Enough to say that nothing so dreadful 
ever occurred in my experience. Away 
out here, in a little Wisconsin church, I 
learned of a woman, — no man would ever 
have dared to do such a thing, — who 
actually sat down at the table without a 
Token. There was a short but decisive 



136 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

conference among the Elders, and the 
criminal was at once escorted to the door, 
where, woman-like, she sat down and had 
a good cry. 

As possibly an additional reason for her 
summary expulsion, my informant added 
significantly, " she was also accused of 
promiscuous hearing" 



XV. 

NOTICES OF SPECIAL TOKENS. 

There is a u love of money" which is 
not "the root of evil." I have been a 
votary of this love ever since I was old 
enough to distinguish between a copper 
with a foreign face and the " bawbees " of 
every day currency. The habit has stuck 
to me all my life, till my modest beginning 
with a few battered halfpence has grown 
to be a very respectable collection of 
coins. 

Some years ago I began to gather sacra- 
mental Tokens, partly because they be- 
longed to what may be called the depart- 
ment of ecclesiastical numismatics, and 
partly because they were linked with my 
early Scottish memories of what was most 
solemn and sacred in our church services. 
I kept on quietly picking up one here and 



138 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

another there, as opportunity offered, 
never dreaming that any one but myself 
cared for them. 

All at once I found that there was a rage 
for Tokens and that collectors were every- 
where in the field. At the Glasgow Inter- 
national Exposition of 1888, there was a 
case containing 1,500 Tokens. I am in 
correspondence with a gentleman in Scot- 
land, who has upwards of 5,000.* 

In view of this, I have been made to 
feel how insignificant my own work has 
been. 

Still, my little collection is not without 
some features of interest. I have speci- 
mens from the length, and breadth of 
Scotland. From the very " Ultima Thule," 
from Northmaven in the Shetland Islands, 
from Westray and from Hoy in the Ork- 



*Mr. John Reid, 13 Wellmeadow, Blairgowrie, 
Scotland. An indefatigable collector who will wel- 
come any correspondence relating to Tokens or 
communion customs. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 139 

ney Islands, down to the Tweed and the 
Solway, Berwick and Gretna. Edinburgh 
in the east and Glasgow in the west are 
well represented. I have several pieces 
from every county in Scotland, and many 
counties make a liberal display. 

I am indebted to the Rev. William Bell 
of Gretna, for an almost unique Token of 
that Church. It is marked "D. C," which he 
amplifies into Aainrov ^pzsro'u, or " Sup- 
per of the Lord." From references to it in 
the session records, this Token must be- 
long, at least, to the seventeenth century. 

Some Tokens from the Highland 
Churches have their legends in the native 
Gaelic. 

Here is a sample from the parish of 
Stornoway, Island of Lewis, Northern 
Hebrides. Eaglais Shaor Charlabhach. 
(" Free Church of Carloway.") Deanaibh So 
Mar Chuimhneachan Ormsa. (i Cor. xi : 24.) 

I have ten Tokens from the Presbyter- 
ian Churches of England, and two from 



140 STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 

the Isle of Man. Mr. Reid, of Blairgowrie, 
has more than a hundred Tokens from 
England. Several of these date back to 
the seventeenth century. It is to be noted 
that very many of the old Scotch Tokens 
have " K " for Kirk. Nearly all the English 
Presbyterian Churches, and the Scotch 
Churches in England, mark their Tokens 
with " M." for Meeting-house. 

I have a round dozen of Tokens from 
Ireland, stretching from Larne to Tip- 
perary. The Larne Token proudly chron- 
icles the fact, that the 
church to which it be- 
longs was erected in 
1627. I have 130 from 
Canada, reaching from 
St. John's, Newfound- 
land, to the Kildonan Church, at Winnipeg* 
I have 50 from the United States, ex- 




*A writer in Harper s Magazine, March, 1S86, 
mentions that Communion Tokens are still used in 
Cape Breton. 



STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 



141 



tending from Vermont to Georgia. Three 
from the West Indies, two from New Zea- 
land, and one from Australia, swell my 
cabinet to upwards of 800. 

I have several in which I feel a per- 
sonal concern. I have one from the 
church round which lie the graves of my 
grandparents, my father, and many of my 
kindred. I have one from the church 
which I attended in my early youth. This 
Token bears the name 
of the most varied and 
comprehensive author 
that ever adorned the 
Secession Church.* 
I have one from the church of which I 
first became a member. It is stamped 
with the initials of 
the great historian of 
Knox and Melville. f 
It may possibly be the 

* Rev. James Aitken Wylie, LL. D. His name 
is misspelled on the Token. 

f Rev. Thomas McCrie, D. D., LL. D. 






142 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

very Token that admitted me to the 
sealing ordinance of the Church. 

I have a rude Token marked " G. K." 
(Georgetown Kirk) that may have per- 
formed the same office 
for my wife in her lit- 
tle backwoods church. 
More than 3,000 miles 
apart and ignorant of 
each other's existence, 
we were observing the same ordinance and 
conforming to the same custom. 

I have representatives of many churches 
whose names are familiar as household 
words in Reformation history, St. An- 
drews, Perth, Aberdeen, and similar 
places. 

I have one from Cambuslang marked 
with the year 1742, the very date of what 
has long been known as the " Cambuslang 
wark," the greatest revival that occurred in 
the Church of Scotland. 

I have one of the same year from 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 143 

Mauchline, where Robert Burns lived for 
a considerable time and he may have used 
this identical Token. 

I have one from Longside, Aberdeen- 
shire, where the venerable Bishop Skinner 
was Episcopal minister for 64 years, and 
where he composed those beautiful Scottish 
songs which are the very embodiment of 
humor and sweetness. 

1 have four Tokens from Ceres, in Fife- 
shire, the dates ranging from 1719^0 1850. 
In this village the Secession Church held 
its first communion, in 1745, when up- 
wards of 2,000 communicants partook of 
the sacrament. The Tokens used on that 
occasion were of the most primitive 
description, being small discs of leather 
with a hole in the centre. 

In short, I might mention every Token 
that I have, for each one brings up some 
historical or local association. Such re- 
membrancers should never be deemed 
insignificant nor unimportant. 



144 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

Another pleasant feature in my collec- 
tion is, that every specimen is a token of 
help and interest, and a warm desire to see 
my work prosper. Every piece speaks of 
the efforts of some friend in my behalf. 

One specially interesting Token is 
marked " G. M., (General Meeting) 1745." 
And on the reverse, " L. S." (Lord's Sup- 
per.) This comes from the bitterly persecut- 
ed little society known as the Cameronians 
or " Hillfolk," whose members during the 
" killing time" were hunted for their lives, 
" as when one doth hunt a partridge in the 
mountains." 

The poor struggling remnant kept on 
protesting and testifying against " right 
hand snares and extremes, and left hand 
wayslidings," with few leaders and a very 
shadow of an organization. At length, in 
1743, they formed a Presbytery, but the 
old name of general meeting was still kept 
up by the Societies, who had no regular 
minister. This rudely lettered Token came 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 145 

to me from Penpont, near the English 
border. A famous place in the old Cove- 
nanting days. 

Well aware as I am of the strong Puri- 
tanic feeling of our fathers, and knowing 
how thoroughly they disliked any thing that 
savoured of the mystical Babylon, I have 
been much surprised at a device found on 
some Tokens. They are actually blazoned 
with a cross. Methlick, in Aberdeenshire, 
displays a cross on its Token with the date 
1776. At first I thought that it might have 
been adopted as a kind of compromise with 
the Episcopal neighbors who abounded 
there, but it was little the Presbyterian 
Church knew about compromise in those 
days. 

Away at the other extreme end of the 
country, I find Langton, in Berwickshire, 
exhibiting a cross with the text, Col. i: 20, 
"having made peace through the blood of 
His cross." I am surprised that some 
" douce David Deans" did not testify 



146 



STORY OF TEE TOKEN. 



against the Romish tendency of these 
emblems. 

Rousay, in the Orkney Islands, also 
shows a plain cross, and I have one from 
Arbroath, Forfarshire, with a Roman cross 
and the motto, Salus Cruce (" Salvation by 
the cross.") I am certain of one thing, 
that none of these cross Tokens were ever 
issued by a Seceder Church. 

A very suggestive Token is from Meth- 
ven, Perthshire, 1824. The device is a 
dolphin, with the legend: 
Trajiqiiilliis In Undis 
Mediis. (" At rest amid 
the storms.") I have also 
a Token from Northma- 
vine, Shetland Islands, 
1809. It is stamped with a plain fish, 
showing no marked characteristics, and 
there is no suggestive motto, as in the 
case of the Methven Token. 

The ecclesiastical antiquary does not 
need to be told of the important place occu- 




STORY OF THE TOREK 147 

pied by the fish in Christian iconography. 
While the " discipline of the secret " pre- 
vailed, the fish was the cherished emblem, 
and token, and sibylline password by which 
the brethren identified each other. Three 
centuries before the lamb, the dove, and 
even the cross itself were openly used as 
Christian devices, the little bronze fish was 
secretly worn as a Tessera by the new 
convert. It was at once a reminder of his 
vows and a badge of his faith. The fish 
was so intimately connected with Christ's 
works, teachings, and apostles, that it was 
believed to be prophetically significant 
when the Greek letters of its name 
IXQT2, (Ic/it/iys, Piscis), were found to 
be the initial letters of the Greek words 
IrjGovS Xpi&roZ &eoi Tios- 2gdttjp; 
( u Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour,") a 
sentence which sets forth both His divine 
and human nature, as well as his mediatorial 
office. This symbol, so generally known 
and so deeply reverenced by the primitive 




148 STORY OF THE TOREK 

believers, is a most appropriate figure to be 
revived on the Communion Tokens of the 
latter day Church. 

My oldest Scottish date is 1678, and 
belongs to St. Andrew's Church, Brechin, 
Forfarshire. This being 
ten years before the 
Revolution, it stamps 
the piece as an Episco- 
Presbyterian Token. 
From this period to the Revolution in 
1688, five ministers of this church were 
also bishops of Brechin. From 1678 to 1682, 
the Rev. George Haliburton, D. D. was 
incumbent of this charge and bishop of the 
diocese. During this Episcopal era, worship 
was conducted according to the Presby- 
terian order and without a liturgy. This 
may partly account for the use of the 
Tokens, though, as I have already stated, 
the old Episcopal Churches in this district 
all used them. Several of my undated 
Tokens must be older than this one. One 



STORY OF THE TOKEN 149 

from Auchterarder, Perthshire, can be 
traced back as far as 1584. The Token 
already mentioned as belonging to Samuel 
Arnot of Tongland, must have been made in 
1 66 1. Many of my specimens are of such 
rude workmanship that they may belong 
to the first years of the Reformation. I 
have quite a number of Tokens of the last 
century, from 1700 downwards. 



XVI. 

TOKENS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

What has been like a revelation to me 
in my research was, finding out the ex- 
tensive use of Tokens in the United States. 
All the early Presbyterian churches appear 
to have used them. In the Fourth Pres- 
byterian Church, of New York City, 
Tokens were used from 
1784 to 1870. Those 
last in use were marked 
" Associate Church, " 
"N. York, 1799." 

Several churches in Pennsylvania and 
New York still cling to this badge of their 
fathers. Scattering congregations in 
Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Maryland, 
and even California, insist on Tokens 




STORY OF THE TOKEN. 



151 



from their communicants. There are 
probably many others of which I have no 
knowledge. I believe I 
am a little proud to say 
that there is at least one 
church in Wisconsin that 
has not yet swerved from 
the old way.* 

Over 200 United States Tokens have 
lately been described and illustrated in 
the American Journal of Numismatic s.\ 

These form the collection of the late 
Mr. Thomas Warner, of Cohocton, N. Y.J 




* R. P. C. , Reformed Presbyterian Church, 
Vernon, Wis. In 1848, a U. P. Church was or- 
ganized in Vernon and still flourishes. Its early 
card-board Tokens were soon replaced by small, 
squares of lead. I have samples of both kinds. 
The current of change, or possibly of improve- 
ment, has swept them out of sight. The Reformed, 
or Cameronian Church still distributes its Tokens. 

fVol. xxii, July, 1887, to April, 1888, both 
inclusive. 

ifAlas ! that I should have to write " the late Mr. 
Warner." Since I took up this subject, I regret to 



152 STOBY OF THE TOKEN. 

His genial notes and comments on what 
he aptly styled " the medallic history of 
the Presbyterian Church in this country/' 
show that the classifying and deciphering 
of them had indeed been to him, a labor 
of love. 

Mr. Warner crowned his work by 
reproducing the magazine articles in a 
handsome monograph, printed for private 
distribution only. 

Some 35 years ago, a United Presbyte- 
rian Church was organized here in Neenah, 
Wisconsin. For Tokens they used pieces 



say that some of my correspondents have passed 
over to the majority. I especially mourn three 
friends who took great interest in my work, and 
constantly encouraged me to persevere. I may be 
pardoned for mentioning their names and the dates 
of their death. 

Rev. James Aitken Wylie, LL. D., Edinburgh, 
May 1st, 1890. Rev. Edward Anderson Thom- 
son, D. D., Free St. Stephens, Edinburgh, 
October 14th, 1890. Mr. Thomas Warner, Cohoc- 
ton, N. Y., October 17th, 1890. 

Vale, vale, amici carrissimi. 



STORY OF THE TOKEN. 153 

of tin. The movement was weak and 
short-lived. Church and Tokens have 
long since faded from view. Two of my 
American Tokens are from Vernon, Wis- 
consin. 

I have one piece which carries with it 
quite a history. It is a round Token of 
silver, rather less than a half-dollar, the 
devices on which are engraved. The 
obverse bears the well known heraldry of the 
Scottish Church, the burning bush with the 
famous legend, Nee Tamen Consumebatur. 
(" Nevertheless it was not consumed.") 
Fitting emblem and motto for a Church 
which has passed through the furnace. 
On the reverse is a draped table with a 
chalice and- paten and the text, " This Do 
In Remembrance Of Me." On the edge 
is, " Presbyterian Church of Charleston, 
S. C, 1800." 

This was an old and wealthy church 
with silver communion plate and Tokens. 
The church was organized in 1731. The 



154 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

last Tokens were made in England. Dur- 
ing the late war, this valuable property 
was sent to Columbia, S. C, so as to be 
out of harm's way. An unexpected col- 
umn of Northern troops swept through the 
little town and the sacred vessels were 
looted without ceremony. The plate 
doubtless found its way to the melt- 
ing-pot, but the boys probably thought 
that the Tokens were some kind of Con- 
federate money. Several of them have 
been preserved and they are now dropping 
into the cabinets of the curious. The 
figure stamped on the outer cover of this 
volume, is the fac-simile of this Charleston 
Token. 

I may add that, while white and black 
members sat at the same table and com- 
muned from the same vessels, the church 
provided tin Tokens for the colored 
membership. 

A somewhat similar fate befell the 
Tokens of Dunning, Scotland, in the 



STORY OF THE TOREK 155 

Rebellion of 17 15. When the Highlanders 
of Mar burned the town, the plunder of the 
church yielded little more than the leaden 
Tokens. Finding them carefully stored 
away, and not being very familiar with all 
varieties of the circulating medium, the 
wild clansmen at once concluded that the 
Tokens were money of some kind and 
carried off the entire stock. With the 
return of peace, the Session had to pro- 
vide a new set and adopted a new pattern 
and date so as to render the old ones 
useless. I have one of these raided Dun- 
ning Tokens, marked " D." u 1700." 

As I have already intimated, the use of 
Tokens, to some extent, still prevails in 
Canada and the Lower Provinces. Mr. 
Robert W. McLachlan, of Montreal, has 
just published a list about equal to Mr. 
Warner's. 

Rev. Thomas Burns, of Edinburgh, has 
in the press a large and exhaustive volume 
on " Scottish Communion Plate and 



156 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

Tokens." With these works completed, 
there will be little left for any petty 
student like myself to take notice of. 



XVII. 



CONCLUSION. 



And now, let no one lightly imagine 
that so much patient research is being 
expended in vain. There is a great pleas- 
ure in bringing to light what Mr. Warner 
termed, "those stray leaden footprints of 
Church history." 

Very many dates and facts as to 
Churches and pastorates have been deter- 
mined by those tickets of metal, and exact 
history is always valuable. No investiga- 
tion is really misapplied that positively 
settles where and when the work of the 
Kingdom has been commenced and 
advanced. 

It is no light matter to touch even "the 
hem of His garment," if it is done in the 
spirit of love and trust. Let it not be 
asked, " to what purpose is this waste ?" 



158 STORY OF THE TOKEN. 

Shall not the careful labor rather be 
" spoken of for a memorial " of those who 
have made it at once a toil and a delight ? 
Of the reverent collector may it not be 
said, "he hath wrought a good work, he 
hath done what he could ?" 

Not to every one is given the ability and 
the privilege to " walk about Zion, and go 
round about her, tell the towers thereof, 
mark well her bulwarks, and consider her 
palaces." But even the humble observer 
may be able to " tell to the generation fol- 
lowing " some of those partly forgotten 
ornaments which helped, at one time, to 
make her " beautiful for situation, the joy 
of the whole earth. " 

May we not, like the Jew reviewing his 
ancient heritage, " take pleasure in the 
stones, and favour the dust " of our Pres- 
byterian Zion. 

FINIS CORONAT OPUS. 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



Page 25, line 11 from below, for my, read — My. 

Page 56, line 12, add note : I find the same trouble 
springing from the words " in due order/' 
existing in the early New England churches. 
One of the most prolific sources of jealousy, 
quarrel and heart-burning arose from the 
"seating and dignifying" the congregation 
in due order. 

The allotment of pews was left in the 
hands of a committee, who never succeeded 
in satisfying their Puritan brethren that the 
honorable places in the Meeting-House had 
been apportioned to those who were really 
entitled to occupy them. See Alice Morse 
Earle, The Sabbath in Puritan New Eng- 
land ; New York, 1891 (pp. 45-65). 

Page 64, line 8, read — he received. 

Page 90, line 1 from below, read — asceticism. 

Page no, line 2 from below, for his read — His. 

Page 122, line II, read — years'. 

Page 126, n., read — Scots. 

Page 141, n., after Token add : This Token is taken 
from the Original Secession Church of Dollar. 



160 Addenda et Corrigenda. 

Page 149, add : As these sheets leave my hands I 
have received a detailed and illustrated cata- 
logue of 660 Tokens of the United Presby- 
terian Church of Scotland. These form the 
collection of the Rev. Robert Dick, of Col- 
insburgh, Fifeshire. 

Page 156, add : Tn Mrs. Earle's book, referred to 
above, I find mention of the Token in New- 
England as " a very extraordinary custom," 
restricted in Massachusetts to the little town 
of Pelham. The authoress places the power 
of giving or refusing the "communion-check" 
in the hands of the deacon, and tells how the 
custom overflowed to Londonderry, N. H. 
She gives a graphic description of the cele- 
bration of the communion, the details of 
which are much the same as they are stated 
in these pages. 

The Token, however, was not confined in 
Massachusetts, to Pelham. I know of Tokens 
in Chelsea, Sutton, Chicopee, and one church 
in Boston still uses them, or did so very lately. 
The Token is found, not only all over New 
England, but wherever the Presbyterian 
Church was planted in the United States, 
and its presence still lingers in many places. 



INDEX. 



Page 
Abbelen, Rev. P. M., on Tokens. 44 

Abbey Tokens 72, 73 

Abbot of Misrule Tokens 73, 74 

Abraxas Stones 28 

All Saint's Church, Edin., Card 

Token 57 

Amsterdam Token 99 

Antigonish Token 62 

Arbroath Token 146 

Armenian Church 90 

Arnot, Rev. Samuel, Tongland . . . 61, 149 

Auchterarder, Antique Token. .... 149 

Augsburg Confession 70, 80 

Australian Tokens nr, 141 

Basilides .28 

Biblical Mention of Tokens 25 

Bill for Communion Bread 122 

Boswell, James, Note on Tokens. . 129, 130 

Bread lifters 62, 63 

Bread Pennies. 73, 100 

Brechin Token 148 



162 Index. 

Page 
Brunswick and Luneburg Tokens . 69 

Bulletin of French Prot. Hist. 

Society, quoted 85, 94 to 98 

Burlesque Tokens .74 

Burn, J. H., Catalogue of Tokens. 54 

Burns, Rev. Thomas, Edin 155 

Byzantine Church 91 

Calixtines 90 

Cambuslang Token 142 

Canadian Tokens 89, 140, 142, 155 

Canongate Token 21 

Carmichael, Parish of . 118 

Catechumens 35 to 37 

Ceres Tokens 143 

Charleston Token 153, 154 

Chatard, Bishop F. S., on Tokens. . 43 
Cheetham, Ven. Samuel, on Tokens. 42 

City Arms on Tokens 20, 21 

Cochran-Patrick,. R. W. 113 

Coins Offered at Communion Table 118, 125 

Cologne Token 69, 70 

Communion of the Cup 89 

Communion Customs, Controversy 

as to all 62, 65, 66, 90 to 93 

Communion, Disorder at 52 



Index. 163 

Page 
Communion Elements, Publicly 

Tasted 67 

Communion, Old-time 11 to 18 

Concord, Formula of 80 

Crabb, Very Rev. James, Dean of 

. Brechin 57 

Cross Stamped on Tokens. ... ... 145, 146 

Cup, a Common Device on Tokens. 88, 89 

Dalry Token 60, 61 

Dick, Rev. Robert, Catalogue Addenda 

Dean of Guild (Edin.) Tokens 20 

Dimissory Letters 38 

Discipline Connected with Scottish 

Tokens. 116 to 118, 122 to 126 

Discipline and Edm. Tokens 131 to 133 

Discipline, First Book of 82 

Distribution of Tokens. .... . 15. 16, 129, 134, 135 

Dollar Church Token, Dr. Wylie.. Addenda 

Dolphin on Token 146 

Dunning Token 155 

Durham, Riotous Collection of 

Tokens 52 

Dysart, Chalice Token S9 

Earle, Mrs. Alice Morse, quoted Addenda 
Edinburgh City Tokens 20 



164 Index. 

Page 
Edinburgh Session Records 16, 132 

Edward VI., Sacramental Rubric of 92 

Elements, Lifting of the 62 

Eleusinian Emblems 77, 78 

Eleusinian Mysteries 29, 76 

English Soldier without a Token. . 128 

English Tokens 48 to 54, 139, 140 

Episcopal Rubric as to Improper 

Communicants 55, 131 

Episcopal Token, Glasgow 57 

Ettrick, Parish of 129 

Fish, an Early Christian Emblem 44, 147 

Fish on Tokens 146 

Flushing (Holland) Tokens 103, 105 

Fools, Festival of 73 

Forfar, Parish of 129 

Formatae 40, 42 

Formula of Concord 80 

Free-Masons' Mark 75 

French Card-Token, Montreal 87, 88 

French Confession of Faith 79 

French Tokens 85 to 87, 89 

Friedens Berg Tokens 107 

Frossard, Rev. Ch. L. . .- 86, 87, 89 

Gaelic Token 139 



Index. 165 

Page 
Galston, Parish of . . . nS, 121, 124 

Gemmill, Rev. John, M. D 61 to 64 

General Assembly, First Scottish.. 112 

General Assembly, Glasgow 114 

General Meeting Token 144 

Geneva Tokens 85 

Georgetown Kirk Token 142 

Gillespie, Rev. George 16 

Glasgow Card-Token, R. C. Cathe- 
dral 46 

Grace, Dr. Philip, on Tokens ... 44 
Gretna Token 139 

Haddington Token 21 

Hand, Controversy as to Bare or 

Gloved, 65 

Helvetic Confession 79 

Henley-on-Thames (Eng.) Records 50 

Heresies of the Cup 90 

Hermand, Mons. Alex 94, 95 

Horse-Race vs. Tokens 129 

Hus and Luther Medals 101, 102 

Hussite Communion of the Cup . . 89 

Initiation, Early Church. ... 34, 36 

Irish Tokens 140 

Isle of Man Tokens 140 



166 Index. 

Page 
Jamieson, Rev. Dr. John 130 

Johns Haven Token. 62 

Johnson, Dr. Samuel, Tour to the 

Hebrides ... 129 

K. for Kirk on Tokens 140 

Koinonikon 39 

Lanark (Canada) Token .... 61 

Larne (Ireland) Token 140 

Letters of Commendation 3S 

Letters of Communion 3S 

Letters from Italy 58 

Lifting the Elements, Controversy 

as to 62 

Lifting the Tokens 15, 17 

Liturgy, Early Scottish 71 

Longside Token 143 

Luther and Hus Medals ior, 102 

Lutheran Sacramental Customs. . . . 102, 103 
Lutheran Sacramental Wafer 103 

M. for Meeting-House on 

Tokens 140 

Mark of Master-Mason 75 

Marreau or Mereau 79, 80, 85, 94 

Mauchline, Discipline at 118, 125 



Index. 167 

Page 
Mauchline Token 125 

McCrie, Rev. Dr. Thomas, Edin.. 126, 127, 141 

McLachlan, R. W., Montreal 155 

Methven Token, 146 

Montauban 96 

Montreal, French Card-Token. . . . 87, 88 

Mornay, Madame du Plessis 96 to 98 

Munro, Mgr. Alex, on Tokens. ... 45 

Neenah Tokens 152,153 

Newbury (England), Parish Tokens 50 

Newfoundland Token 140 

New Year's Tesserae 30, 31 

New York City Token 22, 150 

New Zealand Tokens no, 141 

Northmaven Token 138, 146 

Old School Church, Annals of 131 

Pelican as a Christian Emblem. 103 to 105 

Pelican on Tokens 103 

Penpont Token 144, 145 

Pergamos, Church of 32, 33, 78 

Plumptre, Very Rev. Dean, on 

Tokens 40 

Pole, Cardinal, Lists of Communi- 
cants .48 



168 Index. 

Page 
Rainbow as a Token 25 

Reformed Dutch Token 109 

Reid, John, Collector 138 

Roman Catholic Card-Token 45 

Roman Tesserae 29 to 31, 43, 95, 115 

Rosicrucians 74 

Sacramental Privileges Claimed 119 
Sacramental Wine Mingled with Ink 66 
Sacramental Wine Mingled with 

Water. 91, 92 

Santa Cruz Tokens 107 

Scott, Rev. David, Saltcoats. 131 

Scottish Communion Customs. .... 11 to 13, 17, 18 
Scottish Communion Plate and 

Tokens 155 

Scottish Dictionary 130 

Scottish Moorland Sacrament 126, 127 

Semple, Rev. John, Carsphairn. ... 126 

Session Records, Edinburgh 16, 132 

South Leith Session Records 114 

Spalding, John, Troubles and 

Transactions 114 

St. Andrews' Session Records 

113, 115, 116, 120, 122 to 124 

St. Peters (Norwich) Token 

Accounts 50, 51 



Index. 109 

Page 
St. Thomas' Token 109 

St. Saviour's Church, Southwark. . 48, 49 

Stock Tokens 19 

Stornoway Token 139 

Swan on Holland Tokens 100 

Swan on Luther's Medals 100 to 102 

Tesserae, Ancient General 

Use of 29 to 32 

Tesserae Sent to Carthage. ....... 30 

Texts on Tokens 19, 109, 110 

Thomson, Rev. Dr. Edward A., 

Edin 152 

Tobit 26, 29 

Tokens as Certificates of Member- 
ship 60 

Token-Books, Southwark 48, 49 

Tokens, Collectors of 113, 138, 149, 151, 155 

Tokens, Counterfeit. 116, 118, 120, 122 

Token, Definition of a 25 

Tokens, Distribution of. ... 15, 16, 129, 131, 134 

Tokens, Exchanging 116, 117, 118, 124 

Token-House- Yard, London ...... 50 

Tokens, Improper Use of 117, 118, 122 

Token Mould, Part of Church 

Property 22, 23, 120 



170 Index. 

Page 
Tokens, New Ministers claimed 

new 24 

Tongland Token 61, 149 

Tradesmen's Tokens 47, 48, 53, 54 

Trotter, Rev. Thomas, Johns 

Haven 62 

United Brethren, Token Usages 

of 106 to 109 

United States Tokens. 150 to 154 

Urim and Thummim 78 

Utraquists. . 90 

Vernon, Wisconsin, Tokens 151, 153 

Walloon Church Tokens 99, 105 

Warner, Thomas, Cohocton, N. Y. 151, 152, 157 

West India Tokens 107 to 109 

Winnipeg Token 140 

Wisconsin Church, Incident in. . . . 135, 136 

Wisconsin Tokens 15 t, 153 

Wodrow, Rev. Robert, Eastwood. . 138 

Wylie, Rev. Dr. James A., Dollar. 141, 152 

Yorkshire Incident 56 



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